


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Eternity

by Lugialvr1994



Series: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dawn of Civilization [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Complete, Female Protagonist, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Gen Work, Immortality, Legendary Pokemon, Redemption, Spin-Off, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 48,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26579362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lugialvr1994/pseuds/Lugialvr1994
Summary: One year after the conclusion of the major adventures of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, Creekside Town’s Legendary patron sets off on a deeply personal mission with her Prelate. In order to earn a brighter future for herself, she must face head on a part of her past that she had kept hidden from those who venerated her for centuries.See the opening notes for further information including, but not limited to, the “recommended reading” for this story.Update: 12/04/2020: The second and final spin-off story of this series, which is also this story’s sequel, has now begun posting. It is entitled Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Power.
Relationships: Original Characters&Original Characters
Series: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dawn of Civilization [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621558
Comments: 12
Kudos: 6





	1. Prelate and Patron

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the first spin-off of the PMD: Dawn of Civilization series. This story takes place after the main ending of PMD: In the Wake of Fate, which is the finale of the main trilogy of this series. However, it also takes place long before the final piece of the epilogue of Wake of Fate. That being the “stinger” of that story, if you are familiar with that term. In terms of what stories of mine you should have read before reading this one, that is a bit less concrete this time. Having read all three main PMD: DOC stories would probably give a reader the greatest degree of background for this story. However, that is not entirely necessary to read this story and still have some idea of what is going on in it. What I will say is that some general familiarity with the basics of this setting and some of its established characters is recommended for those who want to read this story. There will be a few direct references to the previous stories in this series throughout this work. However, I like to think of them as bonuses for returning readers rather than roadblocks for newer readers.
> 
> Regarding this story’s content, it is my first story to feature a Legendary Pokémon as the main protagonist. However, elements of this story certainly diverge heavily from the canon lore regarding many of the Legendary Pokémon featured in it. It also depicts them differently than how they were depicted in my earlier PMD-inspired series, which this series shares a multiverse with. It is also shorter than the three main stories in this series and most of my other works, but longer than my three previous “novella-length” stories. All of those having been written outside of this series. This story is also less action-heavy than I would say most of my stories were. However, there is still some action, including large-scale action, particularly in the second half of the work. I wanted to focus more on nation-scale, not world scale, and more personal stakes this time around. This story features appearances by Pokémon from Generation I all the way up to the Isle of Armor DLC of Generation VIII. This can include regional variants. Like my previous works in this series, it allows for Mega-Evolution, but not Z-Moves. Readers should also not expect Dynamax/Gigantamax to appear in this particular story. 
> 
> Like many of the other stories that I have posted recently, this one has a dedication. This story is dedicated to a friend of mine who first told me about the concept of self-actualization. That being something that I believe this story indirectly references as a theme of sorts. He was also a key catalyst in getting my first story that I posted on AO3 finished by beta reading it and helping me with the editing of its first roughly ten chapters. Without his assistance, who knows where my writing would be today? Anyway, if you end up reading this, you know who you are. Thank you for everything you have done to get my online writing “career” off the ground and have otherwise done for me. 
> 
> This story was finished as a rough draft and has been given a full once-over for editing purposes. I will be posting new chapters of this story every Monday and Friday until it is fully posted, as has been the usual for my PMD-inspired stories lately. I will try to let readers know if any of that changes for any reason. I also apologize in advance for the tabbing issues that I am sure will likely appear in this story. With all of that said, I hope that you all enjoy this story whether you are newer or longtime readers of my work.

One Spring morning at the Creekside Town Shrine:

It was a nice town and a growing one at that. Suicune had observed the place from a distance more times than she could remember. Most of the inhabitants of the settlement worshipped her, that she was well aware of. However, she rarely let them catch even a glimpse of her. Recently, she had been starting to regret that. Today, she was going to pay a particular resident of Creekside Town a visit. The one Pokémon in the entire settlement who it would be considered appropriate for her to converse with at length.

Moving far more slowly than usual in the light of the early morning, Suicune closed in on the shrine dedicated to her. She smiled when she saw a female Azumarill wearing the special blue and white garment that marked her as the Prelate of Creekside. The Azumarill, whose name was Aurelia, was standing nearby the shrine dedicated to Suicune. She sprinkling some small crystals into the nearby river that bore Suicune’s name.

Aurelia had not noticed Suicune as the Incarnation of the North Winds closed in on her position. The Azumarill was chanting something that Suicune knew really meant nothing. She wondered if finally disabusing Aurelia of the notion that her rituals did anything would be the right thing to do. Maybe she would do so later? For now, she had something more important on her mind that she wanted to speak with Aurelia about.

Aurelia was about to return to the shrine when Suicune cleared her throat. The Azumarill spun around and stepped back a bit. However, she rapidly regained her composure and bowed low to the majestic creature before her. Before Suicune could say anything, Aurelia asked her, “My Lady, it is an honor to see you standing before me again. I assume that you must be here for some reason of great importance. What can I do to assist you?”

Suicune chuckled slightly and told Aurelia, “I had a feeling that your reaction to seeing me again would be something like that, Aurelia. As for why I am here, I wanted to inform you that I will be absent from the Grand Island for an indefinite amount of time starting very soon. I also want to ask a favor of you.”

Aurelia stood up fully and asked Suicune, “My Lady, if you see fit to tell me, why will you be leaving this island? What business requires your presence elsewhere?”

Suicune replied, “I have business at the place of my birth, the island known as Phoenika to the southwest of this island.”

Aurelia actually looked somewhat shocked and asked, “Does that mean that this region is not your true place of origin, My Lady?”

Suicune nodded and told Aurelia, “Phoenika is the home of the Legendary Phoenix Ho-oh, the one responsible for my existence in this form. It is also where I was born well before Raikou and I moved to this island. However, my business in Ho-oh’s domain need not concern him.”

Aurelia nodded and then admitted, “That does explain quite a lot. I always knew that you were connected to Lord Ho-oh, along with the other two Legendary Beasts, My Lady. Still, if your business on Phoenika does not concern the master of that island, then what might it be? If you would not mind telling me, I would like to know.”

Suicune explained, “Nearby Ho-oh’s seat of power is a cave where a Legendary Pokémon named Jirachi slumbers. Jirachi is the granter of wishes. It is believed that Jirachi can grant a wish to one who reaches him and has a pure desire that will result in no harm to others. I have a wish that I want to make at the cave of Jirachi. The nature of that wish, I consider my business and mine alone.”

Aurelia nodded and replied, “I will not pry further on the nature of your desire, Lady Suicune. Still, you also said that you had a favor to ask. What is it that you wish of me?”

Suicune told Aurelia, “I do not seek to travel to Phoenika alone. I can cross the oceans waves on my own power. However, I would like one travelling companion to go with me on my journey. I want you to find out if there is anyone in Creekside who has a pure and non-harmful desire they might want to see fulfilled by Jirachi. Or, maybe they just want to visit Phoenika. Maybe a member of this town’s famed adventurers’ society will want to travel with me south across the ocean?”

Aurelia seemed to be thinking deeply. When she snapped back into reality she said, “I am somewhat surprised that you are asking me to help find a traveling companion for you, My Lady. I never thought that you would want to be in someone else’s company for such a long period of time.”

Suicune sighed and admitted, “I have been living mostly alone in the wilderness for centuries, Aurelia. Even for a creature like me, loneliness can begin to set in. I came to the aid of the good Pokémon of this island and their allies three times in the last roughly five years against a number of menaces. I have begun to wonder if the lifestyle and image I have maintained ever since Creekside was founded are productive for this region and for me personally. So, will you help me find a traveling companion for my journey to Phoenika? Or, will I have to go into town and find one myself?”

Aurelia looked shocked again at first. However, she quickly bowed to Suicune and told her, “I am very sorry to have questioned you, My Lady. I will assist you in any way that I can. …In fact, I have a humble suggestion.”

Suicune asked Aurelia, “Yes, what is your suggestion?”

Aurelia replied, “Why don’t I act as your traveling companion, Lady Suicune? Without you in the region, I am not sure what duties I will have to perform here. Also, if you really are considering changing the way you live your life in any way, I can hopefully help you to figure that out. I have always considered it my calling to serve you. If a traveling companion is what you want for your journey to Phoenika, then I would be more than happy to come with you and assist you however I can for the duration of the trip.”

Suicune looked down at Aurelia, knowing how earnestly she wanted to be of service to her. She told the Azumarill, “I will accept your offer to go with me. However, I have a condition for you that you must agree to first.”

Aurelia asked, “What is your condition, My Lady?”

Suicune chuckled a bit and replied, “If you are going to go with me on my journey, then I want you to try your best to not always refer to me as your ‘Lady.’ I do not necessarily think that I need to be addressed by such a title. You might come to learn why as we are traveling together.”

Aurelia seemed very confused at first. However, she told Suicune, “If that is what you wish of me, then I will do my best to not address you so formally during our journey My L…. sorry.”

Suicune smiled down at Aurelia and told her, “Thanks for catching yourself there. Now, please take care of any preparations that you need to make before we leave. I will be waiting here for you.”

Aurelia saluted Suicune and told her, “I will need to inform the Patrician’s office about this sudden development and then I will get whatever supplies that I can requisition, or purchase, packed. After that, I will return to you here and we shall be off. Thank you for affording me this chance to serve you directly, L… Suicune.”

As Aurelia’s face took on an awkward look again, Suicune sighed ever so slightly and then told Aurelia, “Take whatever time you need and then come and meet me here. Thank you for being willing to come with me on such short notice. I hope that we can learn quite a bit about each other on this journey.”

Aurelia was now beginning to look quite excited. She told Suicune, “I will leave my Prelate’s garment here and get whatever food, money and other supplies I can packed. I will not fail you!”

Aurelia took off her garment and then headed off into town. Suicune was left standing nearby the shrine dedicated to her. The Incarnation of the North Winds sighed again. She admired Aurelia’s dedication and loyalty. However, she thought that it her feelings were probably misplaced. For far too long, Suicune had allowed others’ expectations to indirectly control her. Now, it was time for that to change. Suicune wondered if Aurelia would be able to change as well.

Aurelia returned in what felt like two hours. Suicune had been inspecting the shrine, which she had noted was kept in pristine condition. It was almost like the small structure had been built mere months ago instead of centuries ago. Aurelia’s devotion was likely part of why the site was so well kept up.

Suicune smiled at Aurelia as she saw that the Azumarill was now wearing a large traveling pack on her back. Aurelia informed her, “I have told the Patrician’s office that I will be accompanying you on your journey. I also packed whatever food and money I could, along with a map I was able to obtain that might come in handy for reaching Phoenika.”

Suicune knelt down and told Aurelia, “Climb onto my back and hold onto my mane. I have not had any riders in quite some time, so this should be interesting. We will be going quite fast, thanks to my ability to control localized winds.”

Aurelia nodded, showing no outward signs of nervousness. She then climbed aboard Suicune and held on to her flowing purple mane. Suicune told Aurelia, “We will be headed for the southwestern coast of this island first. We will probably stop for supplies at a coastal settlement and then make our way out onto the open ocean. Are you completely sure that you want to accompany me on this journey?”

Aurelia nodded and replied, “In some way, I have been awaiting the possibility of an opportunity like this for years. Now, you have appeared and offered me a chance to serve you in a direct and personal capacity. I want you to see the depth of my devotion to you. This will probably be the best chance to do so I will ever get. So, yes, I fully intend to come with you on your quest.”

Suicune nodded and told Aurelia, as winds began to suddenly whip up behind the two of them “In that case, away we go!”

Suicune and Aurelia were sent rocketing past Creekside Town on their way southwest. As the journey began, Suicune knew that there would almost certainly be more she would need to tell Aurelia soon. However, the true nature of the wish she intended to make when she met with Jirachi would have to remain her secret for the time being. For now, they would need to focus on getting to Phoenika. That would take some time, considering the significant distance involved.


	2. Respite on the Coastline

Moving at incredible speeds, Suicune and Aurelia had managed to close in on the southwestern coast of the Grand Island in only around a day. It was now the morning after Aurelia had agreed to be Suicune’s traveling companion on her journey to Phoenika. The duo was approaching a coastal village that was partially built atop some rocky cliffs that were raised up from the main coastline. There was also a pleasant-looking beach nearby the village. According to Aurelia, this settlement was called Rokana.

Suicune was walking slowly towards Rokana, needing some rest after her recent wind-powered, day-long, sprint. Aurelia had dismounted her and was walking alongside her.

Rokana looked to be a small, but pleasant, town. While most of the buildings sat atop the rocky cliffs that jutted up out of the ground, there seemed to be safe paths for the town’s residents and any visitors to easily reach the both the beach and the inland plains.

As the duo continued to get closer to Rokana, Suicune decided that it was time to ask her Prelate a question. She asked the Azumarill, “Aurelia, I was wondering what sort of family you have?”

Aurelia replied, “Not much of one, to be honest. I was raised as an only child and my parents both passed away years ago. After the time I had the privilege of seeing you as a little Azurill, I decided to devote my life to your service. I let myself get absorbed in my work for the good of Creekside once I was appointed Prelate. Honestly, I always wondered to what extent you acknowledged my devotion and the devotion of my fellow worshippers.”

Suicune sighed and admitted, “Since the foundation of Creekside, I have been keenly aware that the locals have seen me as the local deity and venerated me as such. I always told myself that I would come to their aid if it became truly necessary. I like to think that I have done so, as you have always expected of me. However, I think that in the future, I will need to come clean about the true nature of my birth and my connection to Ho-oh.”

Aurelia asked Suicune, “Do you feel comfortable telling me that truth now?”

Suicune replied, “Tonight, I will tell you a story, Aurelia. It will hopefully help you to understand who I really am. For now, I am thinking that we should briefly rest and resupply here in Rokana. Tomorrow, I intend for us to set off for Phoenika in the morning. There is only one settled island we will probably be stopping at on our way, the volcanic island of Falira.”

Aurelia nodded and then asked Suicune, “Isn’t Falira the domain of the Lady Moltres? I have heard a rumor that she keeps the volcano on Falira stable for the safety of those living on the isle.”

Suicune nodded back at Aurelia and replied, “Yes, that is correct. I saw Moltres and her kin about a year ago, along with the other two Legendary Beasts. From what I know of Moltres, she is a fundamentally good Pokémon who can be very compassionate. However, she has a burning hatred of injustice. The only one who can keep her in check once she has her mind set on something is the Lady Lugia, who she essentially sees as her mother.”

Aurelia nodded again. She also told Suicune, “I have heard that the Lady Lugia mainly stays in her own undersea realm in a deep trench off of the Western Adalsian Coast. She is venerated by some coastal cultures and is also connected to both the Legendary Birds and Lord Ho-oh.”

Suicune sighed a bit and replied, “That is all true. I have only met Lugia on a couple of occasions. She is far wiser and more even tempered than her brother, Ho-oh. Other than that, I have not really been able to get a real read on her. Regardless, we should go into Rokana, resupply and then rest the day and night before the main leg of our journey begins tomorrow. I will also tell you my story this evening as promised.”

As Suicune and Aurelia were almost at the outskirts of Rokana, Aurelia’s face took on a confused look and she asked Suicune, “Wait… you said that WE are going to go into town. Does that mean that you actually want to come with me? I assumed that you would want me to go in by myself to purchase new supplies for us.”

Suicune sighed again and told Aurelia, “I should not be as well-known this far south as Raikou is. I do not even know for sure how many locals will recognize me here. Even if they do, I told you before that I am getting tired of being alone. Even if they act deferential, or confused, regarding my presence, I want to see the interior of Rokana. I have never been here to my memory.”

Aurelia still looked a bit confused as she replied, “I see… I guess that you have actually come to crave the company of other Pokémon, including mortals, recently.”

Suicune nodded and then continued making her way towards Rokana. When they reached an entrance to the town as the ground began to slope upwards, they saw a pair of Clauncher guards standing dutifully at their posts.

When Suicune and Aurelia came to a stop right in front of the pair of Clauncher, one of the two guards asked, “Who goes there? What is your business in Rokana?”

Much to Aurelia’s surprise, Suicune stepped forward confidently and informed the guards, “We are travelers seeking to briefly stop in your fine settlement for the night. We intend to be on our way across the ocean tomorrow. We will not need to procure any sort of transportation here, however.”

The Clauncher nodded sharply at Suicune. He responded, “Very well, you may enter and enjoy your stay.” The other guard seemed to be looking at Suicune curiously. However, he said nothing.

Aurelia followed Suicune into Rokana, where they saw a few local Pokémon going about their business. As they got deeper into town they saw that there were cafes, merchant stalls, and even a couple of souvenir shops set up along the main road that culminated at the highest point on the rocky formation that the town had been built upon.

Suicune smiled as she admired the scenery. Rokana was a very pretty place, it was certainly built of different materials and laid out differently than Creekside. The good news for her was that unlike in Creekside, she was not guaranteed to be fawned over the moment she stepped into town. At least it seemed that way for the moment.

Aurelia asked Suicune, “I assume that you want us to stock up on food for our oceanic voyage before we leave this place?”

Suicune nodded. She then told Aurelia, “If you would not mind paying, why don’t we find a café and have a ‘brunch’ as I have heard it called. I wish that I had money of my own, but I do not.”

Aurelia saluted Suicune and told her, “Do not worry about it. I never thought that my service to you would include paying for your meals, but I will do so happily nonetheless.”

Suicune both chuckled and sighed as the duo found a nice looking café nearby the end of the road with outdoor seating. The establishment featured a view of the coast and the ocean. They soon sat down, with Suicune not needing a chair, assuming they would have even had one big enough for her anyway. A Marill waitress took their orders. She had looked quizzically at Suicune, but did not say anything except that she would return with their meals once they were ready.

Aurelia mentioned how nice the view was and admitted that it was kind of nice to leave Creekside for a little bit. She had not been outside of the riverside port since her appointment to the office of Town Prelate. It was not long until the pair’s meals arrived and they ate. Suicune actually found herself enjoying the well-prepared food more than she had been expecting to.

After Aurelia paid for the food and thanked their waitress, the duo got up and left the café. Suicune told Aurelia, “I think that we should look for a merchant’s stall we can use to top off our travel supplies and then enjoy the rest of our day here. You will have to pay again, I am sorry to say.”

Aurelia nodded, she then mentioned, “I will do so gladly. I brought quite a bit of my savings with me, so we should be fine in terms of funds for now. I still hope that I can pack enough food for the trip across the ocean. I will have to ration it carefully to be sure.”

Suicune nodded as they heard a somewhat timid female voice asking, “Excuse me, could you possibly be the Lady Suicune?”

Aurelia and Suicune turned around to see a Chinchou hopping towards them. She stopped in front of the duo and seemed to be marveling at Suicune. She then quickly asked, “I do not wish to bother you. However, if you are the Lady Suicune, then do you perhaps know where Lord Raikou has gone off to?”

Suicune was unsure of what the Chinchou meant. She asked her, “I know that Raikou is the patron of much of the southern region of this island. However, what do you mean by where he has gone off to?”

The Chinchou replied, seeming to have ascertained Suicune’s identity for sure, “Well, My Lady, Lord Raikou has not been seen for a few months now. Some of the local religious leaders said that he had told them that he had to leave to finish something he should have finished in the past before disappearing. Even though a few other Pokémon loyal to him in the region mentioned going with him and then disappeared, he never told anyone else where he was going.”

Suicune sternly asked the Chinchou, “Might I ask what business of yours it is where he went?”

The Chinchou looked a bit frightened and bowed as best as she could to Suicune. She then replied, “My name is Kina, your Ladyship. I live here with my family and I have always been an admirer of Lord Raikou. When I had heard that he had not been seen in some time, I became worried. When I saw you here, I thought that there might be some sort of connection. I am so very sorry if I have offended you in any way…”

Suicune sighed and told Kina, “I am here with my companion Aurelia on my own personal business. I have to tell you that I do not know where Raikou has gone off to and why he left his domain on this island. Hopefully, he will be back soon. If I somehow run into him, I will let him know that there are some mortals concerned by his recent disappearance.”

Kina bowed to Suicune again and told her, “Thank you, Lady Suicune! I am so sorry to have wasted any of your time. I wish you luck in whatever endeavor you and your companion are focused on at the moment.”

As Kina was turning to leave, Suicune told her, “Do not worry about it. Your question regarding Raikou was valid. You had no need to prostrate yourself so much. I am sorry if I scared you at all.”

Aurelia remained silent for the moment as Kina smiled at Suicune and then hopped off. Once Kina was out of earshot, Aurelia asked Suicune, “You called me your companion to her, not your Prelate?”

Suicune sighed a bit again. She then smiled and told Aurelia, “You are serving as my traveling companion for this trip. Also, you have proven quite helpful for the short duration of the journey thus far. Honestly, I know that that girl meant well. However, I still dislike anyone acting that way around me. …If I was not so worried about that, then I would probably spend a lot more time in Creekside.”

Aurelia looked somewhat surprised once again as Suicune finished, “We should go and get our supplies topped off now. Once that is taken care of, we will explore the area for a bit, get some dinner and then I will tell you my story. Maybe then, you will see why I do not like the way that some prostrate themselves in front of me.”

Aurelia nodded as the duo went off to go find a stall to make their purchases at. Suicune was sure that the Azumarill Prelate was wondering what her patron was going to tell her. Of course, Suicune knew that there was a high chance that it would shake some of Aurelia’s beliefs to the core. Regardless, it would soon be time for Suicune to come clean to her most loyal worshipper. The truth that she had kept mostly unspoken for centuries needed to be heard now. 


	3. Suicune’s Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, I hope that you are enjoying this story so far. I just wanted to let you know that I have recently completed the rough draft for the second spin-off story of this series, out of a possible maximum of three. That story is a sequel to this one, even though it features a different main character. It will be titled Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Power and all I will spoil about it for now is that it features a different Legendary Pokémon as the main protagonist. The idea I have for a potential third and final spin-off story will not feature a Legendary Pokémon protagonist. Anyway, thanks for reading.

After finishing up some minor resupplying, Suicune and Aurelia explored Rokana for a few hours. The coastal town was not all that big. Aurelia even referred to it as quaint. However, Suicune was happy to be having an experience unlike any she had had in quite some time. There were odd looks and whispers to be sure. However, she and Aurelia were not confronted directly again by anyone who realized who Suicune was during their time wandering Rokana.

That evening, Suicune and Aurelia had gotten dinner at a larger restaurant close to the beach. Suicune had been openly thankful to her traveling companion for paying for their food and supplies once again. After dinner was eaten and paid for, Suicune told Aurelia to follow her, which the Azumarill loyally did. The two of them headed down to the beach, with Suicune in the lead. They soon found a spot on the beach with nobody else in earshot of them. It was now evening and the sun was beginning to set in the sky. It created quite a beautiful view of the ocean.

As the two Pokémon sat down on the beach and looked out at the ocean, Aurelia smiled a bit and mentioned, “You know, this view is what some would call romantic. I can see plenty of couples coming out here to spend some time alone.”

Suicune sighed and nodded a bit. She then asked Aurelia, “Were you ever romantically involved?”

Aurelia told Suicune, “No, I have not been. I dedicated my life to your service and I never wanted anything to get in the way of that.”

Suicune was beginning to grimace as she kept looking out onto the water. She slowly told Aurelia, “I feel so guilty right now….”

Aurelia interrupted, “Why would you say that? What have you done wrong L… Suicune?”

Suicune’s eyes began to tear up as she told Aurelia, “I feel that my withholding of information may have stolen your life from you. Worse, it may have stolen the life of everyone who has ever held the office you hold today. Still, that ends today. I have to tell you the truth, at least what parts of it I can bear to tell you now.”

Aurelia was silent. She just nodded nervously as Suicune continued, “Aurelia, here is my story. … Like I said before, I was not born on the Grand Island. I was born on the Island of Phoenika. My birth was sometime centuries ago. I am not remotely as old as most of the Legendary Pokémon and the same goes for Raikou and Entei as well. You see, Phoenika, despite also being home to Jirachi, has been the domain of Ho-oh for thousands of years. In Etria, one of the major cities on Phoenika, which is located not far from Ho-oh’s stronghold, there was a great tower that had been erected in the Legendary Phoenix’s honor. One fateful night during a mighty thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning struck a wooden section of the tower and ignited a raging fire inside of it.”

As Aurelia continued listening without interruption, Suicune sighed deeply again and then explained, “A number of local Pokémon were taking shelter from the storm inside of the tower as it began to burn. In the rush to escape the fire, which had not yet been quelled by the rain, three Pokémon were trapped and killed by the raging fires and falling debris as the tower collapsed. After the rainfall intensified and the fire was put out, the sky cleared and Ho-oh arrived on the scene. Using a one-time-only ritual, the details of which I do not know, he returned the souls of the three slain mortals to their bodies and they took on new, immortal, forms.”

Aurelia seemed to be putting two and two together now. She staggered back a bit and stammered, “Those three mortals were Entei, Raikou and you, weren’t they? You… you were born as a mortal, weren’t you?”

Suicune nodded and admitted, “Yes, that is the truth. I sadly cannot remember much of my mortal life beyond what I have told you. I am not even sure of what my relationship to Raikou and Entei was before our rebirth, if there even was any connection between the three of us then. However, I found myself reborn as the creature that I still am today after the storm abated.”

Aurelia asked, “Wait… if you three were revived by Ho-oh, then why are you and Raikou residing on the Grand Island now? You two have been living here for hundreds of years.”

Suicune continued, “Ho-oh had returned myself and two others to life and made us Legendary Pokémon in our own right. However, his motives for doing that were not pure. That we learned soon enough. Ho-oh had not had anything to do with the thunderstorm and our deaths. However, he had taken advantage of the situation before him in the hopes of creating three powerful servants who would never die of natural causes and would feel indebted to him. He did not do what he did as an act of charity, he did it to help cement his own power and control over Phoenika!”

Aurelia admitted, “I had no idea that Ho-oh was that kind of Pokémon. I really wish that you had seen fit to tell me all of this years ago, or even tell one my predecessors the truth. Still, I guess that I am privileged to hear all of this now. Please do continue.”

Suicune nodded and explained, “It was not long after my resurrection that I began to realize that myself and the two others were viewed as personal slaves by Ho-oh. As powerful as we had become, Ho-oh saw us as his property. I hated the idea of being anyone else’s property. Entei, on the other hand, took the whole thing in stride and became Ho-oh’s loyal herald. He also began to act as Ho-oh’s ambassador to foreign territories, which he still does sometimes today. While Entei was away on a mission for Ho-oh, I decided to risk asking Raikou what he thought of our situation. Luckily for me, it turned out that he was just as humiliated and furious at the idea of being a slave as I was. We made the decision to go and confront Ho-oh about our status while Entei was still away from Phoenika. When the two of us found Ho-oh and told him that we refused to be treated as slaves, he was quite displeased. In the end, the conversation escalated into a fight where somehow Raikou and I were able to wear Ho-oh down quite a bit. In the end, he told us to get out of his sight and off of his island. Seeing as though the implication was that we had won our freedom, we took our leave of our former master.”

Aurelia asked, “So, it sounds like you are taking a big risk by planning to return to Phoenika now. Still, what happened after you and Raikou won your freedom from Ho-oh?”

Suicune finished, “Soon after Entei returned from his overseas mission and re-affirmed his loyalty to Ho-oh, Raikou and I left Phoenika and both ended up on the Grand Island. We ended up growing apart after that. Raikou established himself as the patron of most of the southern Grand Island north of the coastline. However, he always encouraged political liberty amongst the citizens of the towns where worship of him was common. I ended up roaming the region of the Central Grand Island south of the badlands. In time, I inspired the founders of Creekside Town to adopt me as their local patron and they even named the river that flows through the center of the island after me. However, I developed this idea that I was expected to be distant from the locals. Seeing as though I will outlive all of them, I always assumed that I would have trouble living in a regular society again. I have roamed the plains and forests for centuries… I have grown so lonely, Aurelia. I am tired of being worshiped and tired of being alone. I think that it has taken me so long to realize these things because of my transformation into the immortal creature that I am now. However, a mortal mindset still exists within me. I have spent some time with Raikou and even Entei again recently. However, that was when I got them to aid me in fighting menaces that threatened the whole world. The potential danger to the whole world being why Ho-oh allowed Entei to come with us in those instances as well, even when he would not bring his personal might to bear against the enemies we were facing.”

Aurelia asked Suicune, “You are actually tired of being worshipped? That is something I never thought that I would hear. …I guess that if you were a mortal once, then the idea of somebody viewing you as a goddess of sorts would seem very strange. It sounds like Raikou adapted to the idea of being a regional patron better than you did.”

Suicune sighed and asked Aurelia, “Do you see why I feel guilty about my status in Creekside now? I still do not think that I am ready to tell you the wish that I plan to make when I am before Jirachi. However, I am truly sorry that I allowed a religious sect to be built up around me when I have never really viewed myself as worthy of such veneration. I am beyond sorry if you think that what you were devoted to was a lie. I can only hope that you do not hate me now that you know the truth.”

Aurelia quickly shook her head and then told Suicune, sounding surprisingly calm and upbeat, “Your revelations were and are certainly shocking. Still, the fact that you feel guilt over what you see as the mistakes that you have made shows that you are still a good Pokémon. Your reluctance towards the idea of being worshipped shows that you are not arrogant and do not see yourself as being above others. That probably comes from your status as a former mortal. Truth be told, even though I never thought that I would be in this position regarding you, it seems to me like you are someone in need. You need help in order to be able to reconnect with others without feeling like they expect too much of you, or that they are fawning over you. I have done my best to counsel the residents of Creekside Town on a variety of issues over the years. I guess that it is now my job to try and counsel the very entity that I have been worshiping, you.”

Suicune felt beyond relieved that Aurelia had not turned on her after hearing the truth of her origins. She knew that the story that she had just told had to have shaken the Azumarill to some extent. However, Aurelia was still willing to help her. Suicune was sure that someone else might have turned on her in some way after hearing the truth about her past. Despite all that she had just learned, Aurelia was keeping herself together pretty well.

Suicune then told Aurelia, “I could not be more grateful to you right now. I really am glad that you offered yourself to be my companion on this journey. When we do reach Phoenika, you should know that I intend to try and stay out of my former master’s way and out of the way of Entei if he is also present on the island at that time. However, I intend to find some way to repay your kindness someday. I also want you to tell everyone in Creekside the truth about me upon your return.”

Aurelia told Suicune, “With all due respect, you should tell them yourself. Also, if it turns out that you dislike being venerated, I think you would actually get along with Annika, the head of our famed adventurers’ society. She has always had a major chip on her shoulder regarding religion. … I just remembered that I still need to apologize to her about having voted against her society getting the deed to their current headquarters before they became world famous. They have become such a boon to our community that I have been feeling guilty myself over having opposed them in even such a minor way before.”

Suicune nodded and then told Aurelia, “If that is what you wish of me, I will tell everyone in Creekside the truth personally. Now, I think that that is enough conversation for one evening. Before the sun fully sets, let’s find a place to stay in Rokana for the night and then be on our way tomorrow morning.”

Aurelia nodded her agreement and then the duo headed back into town to rest the night. Suicune was extremely relieved that Aurelia had not turned against her. However, she knew that she had not yet told the Azumarill the whole truth yet. The exact nature of her planned wish was still her secret and it would likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.


	4. The Open Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again readers, I know that I left a note on the last chapter of this story. However, I did want to share with you all that this story’s sequel, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Power, has now been given a full once over for editing purposes. I have also finished preparing the notes that will go up with it once it starts posting. That story should start posting within a week of this one being fully posted, barring unforeseen circumstances. Thanks for reading this far.

After resting the night at one of Rokana’s inns, Suicune and Aurelia departed for their trip across the open ocean the next morning. Suicune was able to run across the water, something very few other Pokémon could do. Aurelia rode Suicune for three days as they sped southwest. Eventually, they began to see some very small islands in the distance.

As Suicune had slowed her pace, she told Aurelia, “It seems like we are closing in on Falira. I remember that these small islands are clustered not far from Moltres’s domain. Falira should make a good place for us to stop, rest and resupply before the final leg of our journey will take us to Northern Phoenika. I will admit that I am still not entirely sure of how we will evade Ho-oh’s notice during our stay in Phoenika. I do not want to have a run in with my former master. I have not seen him in centuries and I am sure that both of us would rather not meet face to face again.”

Aurelia nodded and then told Suicune, “There is something that I have been thinking about ever since you revealed the truth about your past to me on the beach nearby Rokana. While I cannot speak for the Prelates who came before me, I sincerely want you to know that I do not feel as though you somehow ‘stole my life from me.’ I like to think that by giving spiritual counseling to the citizens of Creekside, I have been able to help improve the lives of many of them. Believing in you and your fundamental goodness helped give my life a sense of direction that many might even feel envious of. Even now, knowing much more about who you are and were, I still do not feel as though I have wasted my life. Even if my position may have to change once we return to Creekside, I feel as though serving as Prelate has been a good role for me to play.”

Suicune smiled and told Aurelia, “I envy your ability to stay positive about your life and your position. I feel as though I could have done far more for Creekside and the surrounding region in the capacity that I ended up assuming. Still, I no longer feel a desire to receive worship. I want to earn the respect of others through my actions. Not be given it because of any sort of dogmatic beliefs that they might hold. I feel as though Moltres would agree with me on that point, from what I remember of her.”

Aurelia smiled as she kept holding onto Suicune’s mane. She then told the Legendary Beast, “Your humility is surprising, but also refreshing. Despite being a long time worshipper of the Legendary Pokémon, mainly yourself, I always wondered about the sort of unhealthy, narcissistic, egos great power and immortality could bestow on those who possess such capabilities. You seem to honestly view yourself as not inherently above anyone else.”

Suicune nodded affirmatively and told Aurelia, “I have come to realize that I am what I am now based on luck. Whether it be good luck or bad luck depends on your point of view. I was not chosen for a higher purpose. I was given this form for the good of another who I later freed myself from the service of. Therefore, why should I view myself as worthy of worship? I have allowed myself to be exiled from the realm of mortals for too long. Once this trip is over, I intend to end my self-imposed exile.”

Aurelia told Suicune, “I think that it will be a rocky transition if you decide that you actually want to start spending some time in Creekside. Still, if that is what you truly seek, then I will do whatever I can to help you acclimate to civilized life and help others to acclimate to your presence. I can tell that you have been thinking this over for quite a while. You seem resolute in the position that you have come to adopt.”

Suicune nodded and then admitted, “Even though I am thinking about my future now. I still wonder what sort of Pokémon I was in the past. What sort of life did I live before I was transformed into the creature I am today? I am still unsure if Ho-oh stole something from me and the others. Or, was it that he gave us something that he saw as a gift, but for selfish reasons? If we had not perished and he had done what he did to us without our consent, than I would consider it to have been a truly evil act. Still, I have not forgiven him for thinking of me as a slave. I know, as much as I know anything for sure, that wherever Raikou is now, he feels the same way.”

Aurelia asked, “Do you think that you and the others had friends and family as mortals who must be long gone by now?”

Suicune replied, “I wish that I could remember. I know that we all must have had parents. However, I could have been married for all that I remember. I wonder what it is like even now, being in love. Finding someone that you feel as though you cannot live without and knowing that they feel the same way.”

Aurelia suggested, “Have you ever considered taking on some sort of a consort…”

Suicune scoffed and sharply told Aurelia in reply, “I do not want that kind of relationship! I would want to be involved in an equal and loving partnership with someone. I would think you would make that connection based on everything we have been discussing lately.”

Aurelia sighed and replied, “I am truly sorry. You are right in that I should have realized that. I guess that even now, I still have some notions about you I need to disabuse myself of fully.”

Suicune, as they continued to close in on the small islands, many of which were just jagged pillars of rock shooting up out of the ocean, told Aurelia, “I should not have snapped at you like that. I just thought that you were starting to understand me. I forgive you for making that mistake. You have been willing to offer me more forgiveness than I think I deserve. So, I need to be able to reciprocate your generosity.”

Aurelia replied, “Getting back on topic, I can understand wanting to be loved. I never thought of romance much myself. However, having counseled and married a significant number of couples in time my time, I can tell that real, healthy, romantic relationships take some work. It still certainly seems like they can be worth it in the end, based solely on what I have observed.”

Suicune nodded and said, “I am sure that your time offering council to Creekside’s citizens has given you about as much insight into that topic as one can get without more direct involvement. Regardless, we are hopefully not far from Falira now. We will focus on reaching the island by the end of the day. With any luck, we can find a place to stay, resupply and rest in the port town on the island’s northern coast. From there, we will make a plan to reach Phoenika and the cave where Jirachi dwells. Ideally, I can somehow get in and out without Ho-oh taking notice.”

Aurelia held on tightly as strong winds began to whip up right behind Suicune. The Incarnation of the North Winds sped south past some small islands and rocky outcroppings. As she did so, she began to notice some Mantyke and Mantine frolicking in the waves. Below the waves, a group of Horsea swam behind a Seadra. There was even a school of Magikarp swimming clumsily close to the surface. A small pod of Wailmer breached the surface not far away as Suicune sped past them. Suicune could not help but wonder if any of these oceanic Pokémon were the subjects of the Lady Lugia. They were not all that far from her ocean trench home at the moment, after all.

Suicune and Aurelia spent the next couple of hours traveling south past a multitude of rocky islets and spires jutting out from the water. Suicune knew that ships tended to avoid this region of the ocean on account of the difficulties involved in navigating it. The rocky spires and islets looked pretty. However, they could spell the end of vessels trying to maneuver through the vicinity. That would be especially true during a storm.

Now, Suicune could see the northern coast of Falira in the distance. She was also pretty sure that she could make out a small ship closing in on the island. Falira only had one real settlement, its port. However, the Igneous citadel, the home of Moltres, was the real center of power on the small island. Suicune wondered if the Legendary bird who ruled Falira would want to meet with her. She also wondered if she would have to tell Moltres the full truth about her reason for being in the region. Suicune might even have to disclose something she had not told Aurelia to Moltres, the true nature of her wish.

As Suicune slowed down upon getting closer to Falira, Aurelia told her, “We might have a problem! Look into the water…”

Suicune came to a halt as she saw two massive serpentine shapes swimming in the water not that far in front of them. She was not sure what the sea serpents’ plan was. They were easily in sight of Falira now. Would it make sense to simply try to outrun the beasts instead of trying to fight them?

Suddenly a male Gyrados and a female Milotic emerged from the waters between the two traveling companions and Falira. Each of them was wearing an orange band. The one that the Gyrados was wearing looked to have a small pearly stone attached to it. Suicune knew that that had to be a Mega Stone.

The two towering sea serpents regarded the new arrivals for a few quick seconds. The Gyrados then asked the Milotic in a deep and rumbling voice, “Kyra, is that…”

The Milotic, who was apparently named Kyra, replied, “I think so, Konstantin. The Lady Suicune seems to have graced us with her presence.”

Aurelia breathed a heavy sigh of relief, seeing that the two massive sea-snakes were not hostile. Suicune realized that, unlike many of the residents of Rokana, these two giants of the seas realized who she was. She then told the two sea serpents, “I am who you say I am. However, there is no need for formalities. I am simply here to stop on Falira on my way to Phoenika where I have some personal business.”

Konstantin and Kyra gave each other uneasy looks. Kyra then explained, “Lady Suicune, we are both officers of the Falira militia’s Coastal Patrol Unit. More importantly, you should know that things on Phoenika have not been normal lately. I do not claim to know if your business on Phoenika is related to the recent unrest, but…”

Suicune grimaced and asked Kyra and Konstantin, “There is unrest on Phoenika? I was not aware of anything of the sort. What has happened there?”

Konstantin told Suicune, “Your Ladyship, we will escort you to the docks, as per militia protocol. Of course, we will merely be acting as honor guards for you. However, we strongly recommend that you go to meet with Lady Moltres. She can tell you everything herself and would probably prefer it that way.”

Suicune sighed and replied, “Very well then. We will follow the two of you too your home settlement and then make out way to the Igneous Citadel to meet with Moltres. I take it that you can have some sort of courier sent ahead to alert her that I will be coming to meet with her if she is home.”

Kyra and Konstantin seemed to understand and acknowledge Suicune’s request. They both did their best to bow to Suicune. Then, they led Suicune and Aurelia towards their island home. As Suicune followed the two massive serpents towards Falira, she could only wonder what had happened back on the isle of her birth. She hoped that she would not be getting herself and Aurelia into a worse situation than she had planned for. Still, she was not about to back down. She had come this far already. She would reach Phoenika and make her wish come what may.


	5. The Igneous Citadel

With Aurelia still riding her, Suicune followed Konstantin and Kyra of the Falira Militia to the port that acted as the island’s main settlement. Upon their arrival at the docks, a Rufflet courier was sent inland to inform the Lady Moltres of the arrival of Suicune and her companion.

Suicune and Aurelia did not spend long in Falira’s port. Suicune wanted to meet with Moltres as soon as possible and learn from the ruler of Falira what was happening on Phoenika. It sounded like travel to the larger island from Falira was being discouraged now.

Soon, after a brief rest of less than an hour, Suicune set off down the road that led into the black rock and tall grass covered plains of Falira’s interior. She intended to meet with Moltres by the end of the day and figure out her next move based on what the Legendary Bird of Fire told her. Aurelia loyally went with Suicune, riding her again. The Azumarill Prelate had told Suicune that she also wanted to learn what had been happening on Phoenika, along with meeting the mighty Moltres face-to-face.

As Suicune sped along the road leading to the Igneous Citadel where Moltres normally resided, she thought aloud, “I do wonder what the cause of this ‘unrest’ on Phoenika is? Ho-oh has always been more feared than loved on his home island. Maybe someone has decided to try and overthrow him? Still, especially with Entei on his side, that would be one hell of a challenge. While Ho-oh tends to leave many matters to Entei and his mortal subordinates, if he did decide to risk himself in battle, he could do some devastating damage to almost anyone in his way.”

Aurelia nodded and suggested, “Those who rule primarily through fear tend to make more enemies than friends. I cannot help but wonder if someone who knows what you and Raikou did before has decided to try and follow your example by rebelling on a larger scale?”

Suicune replied, “I doubt that. My rebellion was brief and was narrowly focused. Raikou and I simply did not want to live as slaves and we only sought our own emancipation. I must confess, upon thinking it over further, that that might have been narrow minded and selfish of us. We were only thinking of ourselves and not of the good of everyone else living under Ho-oh. …Still, the past is the past. I cannot change that now. I need to focus on the future and on fulfilling my purpose in returning to this area.”

Aurelia admitted, “Whatever form this unrest has taken, you should be ready for the fact that it will most likely complicate our mission.”

Suicune sighed, nodded her understanding and said nothing else for the moment as the duo advanced down the road leading to the citadel of Moltres.

As evening began to fall over Falira, Suicune and Aurelia began to close in on the outer wall of an impressive palace made of black stone. Suicune remembered that this was indeed the Igneous Citadel. This was the home of the Lady Moltres, the ruler of Falira. As Suicune neared the outer gate of the citadel, it began to creak open. A pair of Magmortar guards stationed just outside of the gate both saluted Suicune as she slowed down and stood directly in front of them.

A male Braviary wearing a sparkling orange and red sash flew out from the citadel and landed in front of Suicune. He bowed to her and informed her, “We have been expecting you, Lady Suicune. I am Sir Corran, the consort and chief attendant of the Lady Moltres. My Lady has asked me to escort you and your companion to her throne room. There, she should be more than able to answer any questions that you may have for her.”

Suicune smiled and nodded to Corran. She then told him, “Please lead the way to your Lady. I do indeed wish to speak with her, since she is apparently aware of the recent goings on in Phoenika.”

Corran lifted off of the ground and slowly flew past the outer gate and into the citadel’s courtyard. Aurelia dismounted Suicune and the duo walked into the courtyard together, following Corran. The Braviary led Suicune and Aurelia into the front hall of the citadel proper after they crossed the courtyard. As Suicune looked over the beautifully decorated and unique interior of the Igneous Citadel, Aurelia could not hide how impressed she was by the mammoth structure. Suicune knew that the Azumarill had probably never even seen the interior of a building this size before. To boot, this citadel was meant to be the home of a Pokémon far larger than most. Moltres was not as large as Ho-oh or Lugia. However, she was still larger than the vast majority of avian Pokémon.

Suicune and Aurelia followed Corran down a series of imposing, yet beautiful, hallways. They eventually came to a massive door, which was opened by a pair of Magby servants. Corran flew inside and Suicune followed him with Aurelia not far behind her.

The throne room of the Lady Moltres, which sat at center of the southernmost portion of the Igneous Citadel, was a gargantuan chamber embellished with silver decorations and a marble floor. Black rock still made up most of the walls of this room. At the rear of the room was a large circular pedestal of sorts that clearly acted as Moltres’s “throne.” Suicune wondered if she could have lived in this sort of palatial building if she had demanded such accommodations from the citizens of Creekside. Still, that sort of demand and lifestyle would go against everything that she now believed about herself and the future life she wanted to lead. 

Atop the central pedestal stood an impressive orange bird whose body emitted flames in many places. Suicune did not need help to recognize Moltres. She had last seen her only around a year ago after all.

Corran flew up close to the great avian and told her, “My Lady, I present the Lady Suicune and her companion.”

Moltres nodded to Corran and told him, “Good work, as always.” As Corran moved aside and landed atop a smaller silvery pedestal nearby Moltres’s, the massive flame bird jumped down gracefully and landed on the floor of her throne room. She walked right up to Suicune and Aurelia, who both bowed to her.

Moltres returned the bow and then said, “Suicune, to what do we owe the honor of your presence here on Falira? I hear that you seem to be unaware of the recent occurrences on Phoenika. I was actually surprised to hear that you did not know what has been going on there, to be honest.”

Suicune told Moltres, “Regarding why I am here, I have come to this region seeking the cave on Phoenika where Jirachi rests. I have a wish that I intend to make there. This Azumarill is Aurelia. She has loyally served as my Prelate in Creekside Town for years. She personally heeded my request for a traveling companion when I asked her to find me one among the citizens of Creekside. I came here to meet with you in the hopes that you could tell us what exactly is going on with the unrest on Phoenika that your militia patrol members spoke of.”

Moltres nodded and explained, “I am still a little shocked that have not already become aware of recent events on Phoenika. I will also admit to being very curious as to what wish you intend to make with Jirachi. Still, I should answer your question first. You see… Raikou has recently returned to Phoenika with the intent of removing Ho-oh from power by force.”

Suicune’s jaw dropped a bit as Aurelia said, “Well, that explains why he left his domain on the Grand Island. Still, I wonder why he did not inform you of his plan, Suicune?”

Moltres continued, as Suicune regained her composure, “Raikou has openly declared that he should have found a way to depose Ho-oh and liberate Phoenika from his rule centuries ago. He intends to end the reign of his former master and he has even managed to bring a small number of his most loyal followers from the Grand Island with him. He has rallied a significant and impressive number of Phoenikans to his banner already. They share in his desire to see Ho-oh’s rule over their island brought to an end.”

Suicune asked Moltres, “Do you know how this civil conflict that Raikou has started will impact access to the cave where Jirachi rests? Also, who, if anyone, do you personally side with in this situation?”

Moltres replied, “I have no idea how Raikou’s new rebellion will impact access to the Cave of Jirachi. However, you should know as well as I do that the cave is extremely close to the stronghold that Ho-oh calls his home. It lies directly to the south of his personal seat of power atop his mountain. With regard to who I would prefer to have win the civil war that has broken out on Phoenika, I would strongly prefer to have Raikou prevail.”

Aurelia asked the flame bird before her, “And why might that be, Lady Moltres?”

Moltres’s flames begin to burn more brightly as she told Aurelia, “Ho-oh is a selfish and petty tyrant as far as I am concerned. One time not long after Suicune and Raikou fled his service, he even tried to persuade the Lady Lugia to allow him to annex Falira and take me as his consort! I would have rather died than allow myself to be kept in the clutches of such an arrogant creature! Thankfully, Lugia refused her brother’s requests in that instance. He wisely did not bring up the matter with her again. I have made it clear to Lady Lugia that I would love few things more than to lend my forces to Raikou’s cause. However, she seems to view the civil war on Phoenika as an internal matter. She has asked me and my subjects to shelter refuges from Phoenika who simply want to escape the violence. Also, we are to warn any travelers, or traders, heading to Phoenika who we can intercept about what has been happening there. I like to think that we have been performing both duties admirably. Over one-hundred refugees from Phoenika have already been given asylum for the duration of the civil conflict on Faliran soil. While I will always obey my Lady’s commands, if she changes her mind at any point in the future, I will be ready to lead the charge to Phoenika and aid Raikou in his noble mission.”

Suicune was still wondering why Raikou had not tried to find her and consult her, or even try to enlist her direct aid, regarding his intention to free Phoenika from their ex-master. She also knew that Moltres had every reason to want to end Ho-oh’s reign over Phoenika and possibly even see him dead. Only her immense respect for, and loyalty to, Lugia was preventing her from aiding the Legendary Beast of Thunder and his supporters directly. She had a feeling that she would very possibly end up having the chance to ask Raikou why he had not spoken with her about his intentions earlier sometime soon. She still planned to travel to Phoenika within a couple of days.

Aurelia admitted, “It truly does seem as though Ho-oh is not the noble Pokémon that much of the world believes he is. I can see why Raikou would feel the need to fight against his former master, despite the personal risks involved in such a grand undertaking.”

Suicune then told Moltres, “I still fully intend to travel to Phoenika within the next couple of days and see if I can meet with Jirachi. I would hope that you and your subjects would not stand in my way. Even though I would not mind meeting with Raikou and asking him why I was never consulted regarding his revolutionary venture, my main goal still stands.”

Moltres nodded to Suicune and told her, “I am not under any orders to stop any travelers from going to Phoenika. I just need to make sure that they are properly warned of the danger there. Also, I would not expect such orders to apply to you and your Prelate anyway, Suicune. You and Aurelia may stay in my citadel for as long as you need to. We will also make sure that you are provisioned for the final leg of your trip. In fact, I think that Corran and I would like to eat dinner with you and Aurelia within the hour, if that is alright with you. I would still like to know what your wish is, if you would be willing to tell me.”

Corran told Moltres, “My Lady, I will go and have our servants begin to prepare dinner and ready rooms for the Lady Suicune and Miss Aurelia immediately. I will be awaiting you in the dining hall unless you need me for any other purpose.”

Moltres nodded to Corran and he then flew out of the throne room to go and alert the citadel’s servants of their new tasks.

Suicune had a feeling that as Moltres’s guest, she would most likely need to disclose the true nature of her wish to the fiery avian. However, she knew that she would want to have that conversation in private. She still did not feel fully ready to tell Aurelia about the real objective of their journey. Still, she was well aware that she would have to do so in due time. For now, she would just focus on resting at Moltres’s citadel. She really needed some rest after having spent the last few days crossing the ocean.


	6. A Conversation Between Immortals

As evening wore on over Falira, Moltres’s servants prepared dinner for their Lady, her consort Corran, Aurelia and Suicune. The four Pokémon ate together in the main dining hall of the Igneous Citadel. The meal was the best one that either Suicune or Aurelia had eaten in some time. Some of Moltres’s servants were also seeing to it that Suicune and Aurelia’s supplies would be restocked during their stay. Suicune ended up fully confessing her guilt and anxiety over being worshipped by the citizens of Creekside without what she saw as good cause to Moltres and Corran during the meal. 

As dinner began to wind down, Moltres told Suicune, “I was thinking that you and I should head to the upper balcony of my citadel and have a private conversation. Your traveling companion can return to her room and get some well-deserved rest there. Corran will handle any non-urgent business that comes up while the two of us are conversing. What do you say?”

Suicune nodded back at Moltres and told her, “It would be rude of me to refuse such a request by our gracious hostess. However, it just occurred to me to ask if you know where Entei is at the moment and what his status is with regard to the civil war that has broken out on Phoenika?”

Moltres sighed deeply, her fires burning brighter for a moment. She then explained, “Entei is standing by Ho-oh’s side, as you might have expected. He has been assigned to lead the mortal forces loyal to Ho-oh into battle. He seems to be perfectly willing to fight against Raikou’s forces in order to preserve the reign of Ho-oh from what I have gathered. I personally cannot imagine why Entei has stood by Ho-oh all of these years. However, I can tell you right now that I do not have much sympathy for someone as powerful as you and Raikou who still acts as Ho-oh’s faithful yes mon.”

Suicune sighed herself and admitted, “When you first informed me of Raikou’s rebellion, I had a very strong feeling that Entei would stand with Ho-oh against the rebels. It certainly sounds like Ho-oh is having Entei risk his life on the battlefield in his stead. He was never the type to risk his own neck if he could help it, despite his considerable personal might.”

Moltres nodded and replied, “I despise Ho-oh. He is cowardly, controlling, arrogant, selfish and irresponsible. How such a creature could be considered related to the wise, regal and composed Lady Lugia is beyond me. Regardless, we should make our way to the balcony now, Suicune. It has been nice to meet you, Aurelia. Corran, please take Miss Aurelia to her room like a good gentlemon.”

Corran bowed to his Lady. He then began to escort Aurelia away to the guest room where she had deposited her pack earlier.

As the two mortal Pokémon were about to leave, Aurelia told Suicune, “Have a nice conversation with Lady Moltres. I will see you tomorrow morning. I think that I will enjoy getting some real bedrest for the first time in the last few days.”

Suicune smiled over at Aurelia as she stood up and began to follow Moltres out of the dining hall. Moltres did not say anything as she flew up a massive spiral staircase that led to the top floor of her citadel with Suicune in tow. After reaching the top floor of the palatial structure, Moltres flew out onto a balcony that looked out onto the main courtyard of the citadel. In the distance, Suicune could see the lights of the port where she and Aurelia had entered Falira. Suicune looked out at the view as night had begun to fall. The great braziers of the citadel and Moltres’s flames provided some light. Enough that Suicune could gaze out at the surrounding landscape with relative ease.

Moltres landed not too far from Suicune and asked her, “Whatever your wish is, it must be very important to you. To have come all the way back here and still want to return to Phoenika despite the civil war there. If you do not mind me asking, what is it that you want so badly that only such great power as Jirachi’s can make it manifest, Suicune?”

Suicune replied, “I will tell you, as long as you agree not to tell Aurelia. I plan to tell her what my wish is before I make it. However, I still do not know how she will react, even though she has taken everything that I have told her so far incredibly well. Do you agree to that condition?”

Moltres nodded her agreement and solemnly said, “I swear to you on my honor as the Lady of Falira in the name of the Lady Lugia that I will not betray your trust.”

Suicune nodded back and replied, “Very well then. First, some context. … As you might know, Jirachi is said to only grant wishes that do not cause immediate death, suffering, or other harm. He will also only grant a wish made by someone who comes to him with the purest and most passionate of desires. I believe that the desire I now hold within my heart fulfills all of that criteria. With that said… my wish is to become mortal. I only want to live for another rough century at the longest…”

Moltres now looked completely and totally shocked. She interjected, “Wait, what? Your wish is to become mortal! You… you actually want to die?”

Suicune sighed deeply, seeing how much the revelation had startled Moltres. She explained, “I was mortal once, you know. Ho-oh transformed me and the other Legendary Beasts without our consent. I am tired of living as a loner in the wilderness who is worshipped without deserving such veneration. I certainly do not want to take my own life and I do not even know how I would do such a thing. However, I have come to believe that as long as I am a venerated immortal being I cannot develop real relationships with mortals. My hope is that if I become mortal again, I can live amongst other mortals and find real companionship with them. If I can finally end the crippling loneliness and guilt that has recently overtaken me and find a sense of belonging, then I believe I can die happy when my time comes.”

Moltres seemed to have mostly calmed down as Suicune was offering some of her reasons for wanting to return to mortality. She then sighed and replied, “Suicune… I am truly sorry about the state that you have been living in. As for myself, I have been living here in the company of mortals for centuries. While I feel distant from them sometimes, I have never asked to be worshipped by them as a deity of any kind. I have come to feel a profound sense of responsibility for those under my rule here on Falira. My realm may be small. However, I do whatever I can to rule it justly. I believe that that is what the Lady Lugia would do if she were here in my place, unlike her brother.”

Suicune told Moltres, “You are a good Pokémon, My Lady. I know that you care about those in your charge and that is why they are so loyal to you in return. However, I do not consider myself fit to stand alongside the true Legendary Pokémon, even if their ranks include villains such as my former master. I just want to live amongst mortals as one of them again. I may not be able to remember what my own mortal life was like beyond some basic details. However, I sincerely believe that that sort of life is one worth returning to. I will not keep living as I have been for the last few centuries. That is my stance and I am resolute on it.”

Moltres nodded and then told Suicune, “Your humility is admirable. You know, for all I know, myself, Zapdos and Articuno might have been mortals in the distant past. We exist as we do because of the will of the Lady Lugia. That is really all that we know about our births. Lady Lugia can be quite enigmatic sometimes, as much as I admire her otherwise. Still, I also think that you are a good Pokémon, Suicune. I know now that you fee intense guilt for the façade you put up and the worship you feel you do not deserve. However, allowing yourself to die would take something good out of the world. I think that you should keep that in mind, even if you really do insist on continuing on your current course.”

Suicune smiled up at Moltres and told her, “Thank you for your compliments. Still, I do intend to continue pursuing my current objective. I have every intention of returning to mortality no matter who stands in my way. No later than the day after tomorrow, I intend to leave your island and make my way to Phoenika. I will have to see how much the civil conflict there will interfere with my mission once I make landfall.”

Moltres told Suicune, “You may stay here in my citadel for as long as you want. It sounds like you will want to waste little time, however. I still do hope that Raikou is able to defeat Ho-oh somehow. With or without any assistance from you or I. The good residents of Phoenika should have been ‘chomping at the bit’ to bring down their unworthy ruler for decades upon decades. I hope that most of them see the opportunity that Raikou has brought them and side with him. Many Phoenikans have fled here as I told you earlier. However, most of them remain, whether by choice or not.”

Suicune knew in her heart of hearts that she wanted to see Ho-oh brought low. She knew that Raikou was doing what his conscience had finally demanded of him. In some way, the two former slaves were both trying to create substantial change at the same time. However, Suicune also knew that the change she wanted to create was only on a personal scale. In some way, it made her wish that she was more like Raikou. He was almost certainly worthy of the title of Lord. She, on the other hand, wanted to relinquish her title and her status. As for Entei, she had mixed feelings about him. His consistent service to Ho-oh had made her lose a lot of respect for him. However, Entei was still a mighty fighter with his own strong sense of justice.

Moltres interrupted Suicune’s thoughts by asking her, “Now that you have shared your plans with me, is there anything else you wish to discuss with me up here before you retire to your guest room?”

Suicune chuckled at how formal Moltres could be for someone known for her fiery passion. She then replied, “I am somewhat curious about your relationship with this Sir Corran. He did identify himself as your consort. It is not my business to judge you, even if you were not graciously hosting Aurelia and I at the moment. However, I will tell you on my end that I may very seek to get married if I am successful in becoming mortal again. I crave the sort of intimacy that seems like the polar opposite of the way lonely way I have lived for so long.”

Moltres just nodded and told Suicune, “Corran has not been my first consort and may not be my last. However, he has carried out all of his duties admirably ever since he earned his unique position in my service. As for your desire for close relationships with mortals. I wish you luck in winning over potential mortal friends, acquaintances and more. I will say that I have never heard another Legendary Pokémon express the desire that you have made known to me tonight, Suicune. I hope that either you succeed and find happiness as a mortal. Or, that you come to realize that becoming mortal again is not your ideal future and adjust your plans accordingly. Goodnight.”

Moltres then flew back into her citadel. Suicune took one last look out at Falira and then yawned. She then turned and walked inside. She descended the spiral staircase and then went to her guest room. There, she hopped up onto and curled up on a large and luxurious bed that had been made up for her. As Suicune began to fall asleep, she knew that even though Moltres had mentioned the possibility of her having to adjust her plans and accept staying immortal, she had no intention of giving up now. Jirachi was said to only grant one wish per petitioner no matter how long they lived. Suicune was not going to throw away her shot at what she most wanted.

With that thought at the forefront of her mind, Suicune finally dozed off for the night.


	7. Reaching Phoenika

The next morning, Suicune and Aurelia had eaten breakfast together in one of the smaller dining rooms of the Igneous Citadel. They had also learned that Aurelia’s pack had been fully restocked by some of Moltres’s servants the previous evening. Suicune was pretty sure that it would only take around a day for her to reach the northern coast of Phoenika if she departed from the southern shores of Falira. She wanted to leave no later than tomorrow for sure. She was not going to try and wait out the civil war on Phoenika. That was especially true seeing as though Ho-oh could end up increasing security across the island if his forces were victorious in the conflict.

As Aurelia and Suicune were roaming the halls of the Igneous Citadel, Suicune decided to tell her traveling companion, “I want you to know that I was truly unaware of Raikou’s plans until Moltres explained her knowledge of them to us. I still want to learn why I was not consulted when he decided to return to Phoenika.”

Aurelia replied, “I know that you are being honest. I, of course, have no clue as to why Raikou did not speak with you before about his plans. To be fair, it sounds like you did not consult with him regarding your own plans.”

Suicune sighed and told Aurelia, “That much is true. Still, there is something else that I need to let you know. I will certainly not hold it against you if you decide not to go with me to Phoenika now that we know that the island has become embroiled in war. I will find an expedient way to get you home if necessary. I do not want to force you to enter a combat zone…”

Aurelia interrupted, “I have not fought in a while. Still, I believe that I would be more of an asset than a liability if combat broke out. My point is that I still fully intend to go with you to Phoenika. What I would like to ask you is what your plan is for when we arrive?”

Suicune replied, “I think that we will need to make landfall somewhere safe first. Then, we will try to find some non-hostile locals who we can get a better idea of the overall situation from. I know that Jirachi’s cave is just up the mountain from Ho-oh’s stronghold, which was always going to be a problem, admittedly. However, the active conflict will likely make infiltration of that area borderline impossible, even for me. Once we can hopefully learn where the battle lines have been drawn, we can formulate a more detailed plan to get me into Jirachi’s cave. Once I have made my wish, I see no more reason to stay on Phoenika. We will attempt to return to Creekside as soon as my wish is made.”

Aurelia seemed deep in thought for a moment. She then looked up and asked Suicune, “I feel as though I have to ask… do you hate Ho-oh, your former master?”

Suicune thought over Aurelia’s question for a moment and then replied, “I certainly have no love for him. Even though he brought back myself, Raikou and Entei from our premature deaths, he did so for purely selfish reasons. He is an extremely arrogant Pokémon, Aurelia. He believes that his Legendary status has granted him the divine right to rule over Phoenika for all time. While he often has Entei do his bidding in his stead, I believe that if it came down to it, he would probably rather die than relinquish control over Phoenika. That sting of defeat would be too great for him to bear. So, even if I do not hate him, I at least strongly dislike him.”

Aurelia nodded and asked, “If you truly have such negative feelings toward Ho-oh, than would you consider offering your aid to Raikou and his rebels? It could be your best shot at access to Jirachi’s cave.”

Suicune admitted, “For centuries, I have wanted to leave what I remembered of my life on Phoenika behind. Now, I want to leave the life that I was leading until very recently behind even more so. In the end, there is a very good chance that I will have to face my early past head on in order to make the future I envision for myself a reality. If helping Raikou to overthrow Ho-oh, assuming he will have me, ends up being the best way to get me into Jirachi’s cave, then so be it. We will probably know soon enough at this rate.”

Aurelia nodded and told Suicune, “I have done my best to help you so far. I will do whatever I can to stick by you and see this through. Besides, I do not know if I will ever have the chance for another adventure like this again in my lifetime.”

Suicune told Aurelia, “I just do not want to put you in any more danger than I have to, especially without your consent. I am still beyond grateful that you have loyally stood by me, despite all that I have told you and everything that has come up.”

Aurelia just smiled and nodded back at Suicune as the two of them continued wandering through the halls of the Igneous Citadel.

That evening, Suicune and Aurelia met with Moltres and Corran again. It was decided that they would all leave the citadel early the next morning. Moltres and her consort would personally see the traveling duo off from the southern shore of Falira. Suicune would then speed south with Aurelia as fast as she could until she reached Phoenika the next morning. From there, things became less clear. However, Suicune was still as determined as ever to get to Phoenika and make her wish. The wish she had explained to Moltres, but was still not telling Aurelia the true nature of just yet.

The next early morning, the four Pokémon left the Igneous Citadel before the light of dawn. It was still morning when they reached Falira’s southern shore. Suicune now stood on the beach with Aurelia riding her. Corran and Moltres had both landed nearby.

As the four Pokémon looked out at the waves rolling in near the beach and light blue expanse of ocean beyond them, Moltres mentioned, “The fortified port city of Larika on the northern coast of Phoenika has apparently acted as the rebels’ headquarters since soon after Raikou’s return. Raikou is likely there, or not far from there, if you intend to seek him out.”

Suicune nodded and asked Moltres, “How do you know so much about recent developments on Phoenika without having been there yourself in some time?”

Moltres replied, “For one thing, some of the refugees who have arrived on Falira have had some intelligence to provide us with. Also, Zapdos, who acts as the Lady Lugia’s ambassador and head of intelligence in the outside world, has been supplying me with some of the information that he has been supplying her with.”

Suicune remembered that Zapdos served a similar role for Lugia that Entei served for Ho-oh. However, Lugia was not known to be a cruel, tyrannical, or petty, mistress. While Lugia was not what Suicune would call actively heroic, she was clearly far more deserving of her title and respected status than her brother was. While Lugia was worshipped on some coastal areas and islands, she had never demanded such veneration as far as anyone knew.

Corran then said, “We hope that the two of you have a safe journey to Phoenika and manage to complete your quest upon reaching the isle.”

Moltres added, “I assume that you will not want to dawdle, Suicune. Thank you for being our guest and stay safe out there. If you do end up speaking with Raikou, then please tell him that I hope for his victory over Ho-oh.”

Suicune nodded and then, as Corran and Moltres took off to return to their citadel, she summoned up some mighty winds behind her. As she had been many times before, Suicune was propelled forward by mighty and concentrated gusts of wind. Aurelia held on successfully, as she had before, as Suicune began to make her way south towards Phoenika. She had not been to the island of her birth in quite some time. However, she felt as though she had waited long enough.

The trip across the stretch of ocean between Phoenika and Falira took Aurelia and Suicune the rest of that day and then the night that followed. As the sky began to light up with the sunrise, Suicune could now see the northern coast of Phoenika in front of her. She smiled as she could begin to make out a series of fortifications in the distance. Those were almost certainly the naval defenses of the city of Larika. That was the place where Raikou was said to have headquartered his revolutionary movement. Suicune was unsure if she wanted to simply see if she could get into Larika safely and meet with Raikou, assuming that he was in the city. She decided to ask for her traveling companion’s opinion.

Suicune asked Aurelia, “I know that we are both pretty tired. However, I was wondering if you think we should try to enter Larika and see if we can locate Raikou there? Or, should we try a different plan?”

Aurelia replied, “If you want to at least learn what he knows about the status of Jirachi’s cave, then you should try to meet with him. Still, I assume that he might want something in return for the information. That will most likely be aid of some sort for his cause. I would honestly like to know why he did not meet with you about his plan before he departed the Grand Island for Phoenika to start this rebellion of his. Still, that is certainly a secondary objective. You must be sure that circling the island and heading right for Jirachi’s cave is not the best idea if you want to make landfall on the northern coast.”

Suicune nodded and said, “Raikou does possibly owe me an explanation for his recent actions and not discussing them with me earlier. Still, I guess that at the worst, we could end up meeting and he will tell me nothing regarding Jirachi and I will not offer him anything in return. I hope that he would be willing to help me. However, I know that he must be quite busy now, considering the grand task he has set for himself. And yes, I do not want to risk trying to get in and out of the cave right under Ho-oh’s beak with just the two of us. Even if we got spotted and yet got away from Ho-oh and his guards, they would just increase security in that area and assume I was working with Raikou anyway.”

Aurelia replied, “In that case, to Raikou we go?”

Suicune nodded again and finished, “Yes, we will have to go see what the Legendary Beast of Thunder can do for us.” With that, Suicune sped south towards the fortified harbor of Larika. As she closed in on the city where Raikou was most likely staying, she admitted to herself that ending Ho-oh’s multi-century reign over Phoenika would be doing the world a big favor. She also mentally amused herself with the thought of how the Legendary Phoenix would react to her telling him that she was “giving back his gift” via becoming mortal again. Still, Suicune knew that despite being almost to Phoenika, her mission was likely far from over. 


	8. The City of Larika

Suicune was now moving south across the water past the fortified outer defenses of Larika Harbor. As Aurelia gazed up at the fortified red-brick turrets and walls of the harbor, she mused, “I have never seen any structures like these. Creekside really does not have any fortifications to speak of. It seems that whoever built this harbor wanted to ensure that it was nigh-impregnable against foreign aggressors.”

Suicune nodded and explained, “Larika was always intended to be Northern Phoenika’s first and strongest line of defense against foreign invasion. However, it seems that that has failed spectacularly in this case. If Raikou and his followers have indeed taken over this city and kept the numbers needed to hold her, then their revolution could stand a decent chance in the long run. Larika is fortified on her southern, land-facing, side as well. However, her-land based defenses are less imposing then her coastal defenses.”

Aurelia and Suicune looked into the harbor and saw three docked ships that varied in size. Aurelia also looked up and noticed some heavy ballistae atop the red-brick fortifications pointed out at the ocean. There seemed to be guards patrolling atop the walls as well. Aurelia mentioned, “No one is calling down to us, or firing on us, yet.”

Suicune replied, “We have to have been spotted by now. Even if whoever is on duty at the moment does not recognize me, not many Pokémon can walk across water like I can. We should certainly stick out like sore thumbs… I think that that’s a human saying. I am not entirely sure what it means.”

Aurelia nodded and pointed out, “I see some Emolga and Swellow patrolling the skies not far away. I would be quite surprised if at least one of them had not spotted us by now.”

Suicune looked up and saw the airborne Pokémon Aurelia had spoken of. There were three members of each species that Aurelia had seen. As Suicune was almost to the docks and looking for a good place to jump onto them, two Emolga and one Swellow began to descend towards the docks.

As the half of the airborne patrol that had begun their descent closed in on an unoccupied section of the harbor, with the sun still not very high in the early morning sky, Suicune dramatically leapt up off of the water and landed on the wooden dock.

With the Swellow perching herself atop a nearby ship’s railing, the two Emolga landed right in front of Suicune. It did not take Suicune and Aurelia long to notice that all three of the patrol members were wearing yellow and black sashes or caps. It seemed like Raikou’s rebels had already gotten themselves “uniforms.”

One of the Emolga asked Suicune, in an official-sounding tone, “Who are you and what is your business here?”

Suicune quickly replied, “My name is Suicune. You may or may not know this, but I am a creature akin to Raikou, the one who I believe you serve. I have come here to meet with Raikou, since I have learned that he has begun an uprising against the ruler of this island. I would greatly appreciate someone alerting Raikou to the my arrival if he is in this city now. There are multiple things I need to discuss with him at his earliest availability.”

As the Emolga who had spoken earlier was a bit startled by Suicune’s rapid response, his companion said, “Hey, could this be the third Legendary Beast? I feel as though Laura mentioned her earlier.”

The Swellow bowed to Suicune on her perch and chimed in, “Yes, I think that we are in the presence of the Lady Suicune of the North Winds!”

The first Emolga bowed to Suicune himself and said, “Well, we were certainly not expecting such an esteemed personage as yourself to show up today. Still, if you are the effective sister of our leader, then we will indeed alert him to your arrival.” He then turned to the Swellow and told her, “Janice, please make haste to the city hall and inform Lord Raikou that the Lady Suicune has arrived and wishes to speak with him immediately!”

Janice saluted the Emolga with a wing and then took off for the interior of the city as Suicune said, “As much as I appreciate your assistance, you do not need to be so formal with me. Still, my traveling companion and I would request that someone guide us to the city hall, if that is indeed where Raikou has been staying.”

The second Emolga told Suicune, “I can take you to the city hall. Lord Raikou’s attendant Laura might be able to speak with you immediately, even if he is busy at the moment.”

As the first Emolga took off, he said, “I will rejoin the patrol and let the others know about our esteemed visitor.” He then told the second Emolga, “Katia, please see that Lady Suicune and her companion reach the city hall. Thank you.”

Katia nodded and told the other Emolga, “Understood, Nico. I will make sure that our new guests do not get lost. Just make sure to keep an eye out for any loyalists while you are up there with the others.”

Nico nodded as he flew upwards to join the two Swellow and one other Emolga patrolling the skies above Larika Harbor.

Katia bowed to Suicune and then took off. She told Suicune and Aurelia, “Please follow me. I will see to it that you reach the city hall while Janice hopefully gets your message to Lord Raikou, or at least to Miss Laura, as quickly as she can.”

Suicune nodded and then began to follow Katia into northern Larika. Before she followed Katia all that far, she allowed Aurelia to dismount her so that the two of them could walk side by side.

As Suicune and Aurelia were following Katia into Larika, they would occasionally pass by some other Pokémon wearing yellow and black sashes and a few Pokémon who appeared to be local civilians.

As they got onto what looked like one of the main streets of Larika and saw a towering domed building in the distance, Aurelia asked Suicune, “It sounds like this Laura is someone important to Lord Raikou. She was even referred to as his attendant. Do you know her?”

Suicune had been thinking about that very question herself. She replied, “I think that I may have met her at least once. It was around three years ago, I believe. It think that was when me and the other two Legendary Beasts led an offensive from the Grand Island against the traitorous infidels who marched forth from Mount Galtia. I believe that she was a Raichu, but not the more common breed of that species.”

Aurelia mused, “I think that on some coastal areas and islands Pikachu evolve in to what are called Surf Raichu. That might be what Laura is? Still, we will have to see for ourselves soon enough.”

Suicune nodded as Katia led the duo closer and closer to the towering red and tan brick Larika City Hall. It was not long, after having passed by a couple dozen more Pokémon wearing rebel sashes, that Katia landed in front of one of the side doors to the city hall. She said, “I would hope that it would be acceptable to you to wait here for just a short while. Janice should easily have delivered her message by now.”

Before Suicune or Aurelia could say anything in reply to Katia, the door opened and a yellow and white demi-humanoid with a long tail that she seemed to be balancing on floated out. This was indeed a Surf Raichu. Katia saluted the new arrival who saluted her back and then bowed to Suicune.

Suicune asked the Surf Raichu, “Are you Laura?”

The Surf Raichu nodded and replied, “Yes, Lady Suicune. I am Laura, the attendant of his Lordship Raikou. We did meet in the past at least once. I believe that we fought alongside each other during the liberation of Shawlia. Of course, Entei was with us then, unlike now. I can only assume that your traveling companion is Prelate Aurelia of Creekside Town? Might I ask to what we owe the honor of your presence here?”

As Aurelia looked impressed that Raikou, or at least his attendant, knew who she was, Suicune told Laura, “I wish to speak with your Lord as soon as he is available. I would like to know why I was not consulted regarding his plan to overthrow Ho-oh. I would also like to discuss a highly personal matter with him.”

Laura nodded and then mentioned, “My Lord should be free to speak with you within the hour. He has been meeting with the mayor of a nearby settlement who he wishes to have aid the revolution. He seemed both surprised that you had arrived and accepting that it was some kind of an inevitability that you would show up here, Lady Suicune. By the way, you might not remember this, but you mentioned Prelate Aurelia to my Lord when I was in the room soon after we took Shawlia back from the heathens occupying her.”

Aurelia blushed a little and told Suicune, “I am honored that you saw fit to mention me to Lord Raikou, even if you did forget that fact later on.” She then turned to Laura and told her, “You certainly have an excellent memory for details.”

Laura smiled back at Aurelia and then said to Katia, “You may return to your patrol, scout.”

Katia nodded, gave one more salute and then took off into the sky to rejoin her unit.

Laura then turned back to Suicune and Aurelia and told the two of them, “Please follow me inside to the main lobby. As soon as Lord Raikou is ready, he will meet with you. He has commandeered the office that this city’s loyalist mayor used to use before he was ousted from power.”

Suicune told Laura, as she and Aurelia followed her inside, “I intend to meet with Raikou privately. I would appreciate your keeping Aurelia company while we meet, if you are not too busy.”

Laura nodded, as they entered the immense lobby of the city hall and saw a number of Pokémon milling about. There were two staircases leading upwards and a large bulletin board as well as multiple maps of Phoenika laid out on tables. This building looked to have become the main headquarters for the island’s rebels. That was especially true if Raikou was residing here at the moment.

Suicune and Aurelia followed Laura to a waiting area where Aurelia was allowed to take off her pack and sit down at a bench. Suicune sat down herself as Laura went off for the moment to take care of some minor duties. She promised that her Lord would be down as soon as he was free, which would not take long.

As she sat next to Aurelia, Suicune sighed and told the Azumarill Prelate, “It has only been about a year since I have seen Raikou. I was the one who convinced him to rebel against Ho-oh all those years ago. However, now he has taken the initiative. He has returned and assembled all the Pokémon we have seen here and probably dozens more to bring an end to our ex-master’s tyranny. I know that I have probably said something like this to you before, but I think that he deserves to be a Legendary Pokémon more than I do. He has done a much better job of helping mortals and was willing to risk his life to see his home island freed, even if it did take him centuries to reach that decision.”

Aurelia looked up at Suicune from her seat and told her, “You are here now, at least. I think that you want to help Raikou, whether or not you can fully admit it. Also, remember that there is always the future, especially for an immortal creature such as yourself. You can always choose to be a better Pokémon, like you did when you were finally honest with me about your past earlier on this trip.”

Suicune was considering telling Aurelia the truth about her wish when she saw some of the other Pokémon in the room looking up and either bowing or saluting. She looked over to where they were all looking and saw a yellow, white and black male quadruped walking over to her and Aurelia. Suicune stood up, walked over towards him and said, “Hello, Raikou.”

Raikou sighed and responded, “Hello, Suicune. As much as I hope your being here is a good thing, Laura tells me that you wished to speak with me in private. Shall we go to up my office?”

Suicune nodded affirmatively. She then replied, “Yes, I think that we have much to discuss.”


	9. Raikou

Having reached the rebel stronghold of Larika and entered the city hall, Suicune had finally been able to meet with her fellow Legendary Beast, Raikou. They were face-to-face for the first time since Suicune had learned that Raikou had returned to Phoenika to lead a new rebellion against Ho-oh, the island’s ruler.

Leaving Aurelia with Raikou’s Surf Raichu attendant Laura, Suicune had followed Raikou up a flight of stairs to his office. Now, the two former servants of Ho-oh stood in the wood-paneled room that was adorned with a desk, a map of Phoenika on the wall and a few statuettes and other decorations.

Raikou spoke first. He said, “Part of me always knew that you would show up here, Suicune. When I decided that I had to finish what we started, I had a feeling that you would catch wind of my plans, pardon the pun. I hope and assume that you have no intention of trying to stop me. Still, what exactly brings you back to this island after all these years?”

Suicune replied, “I was already heading here for my own reasons when I heard that you had left the Grand Island from a concerned mortal admirer of yours named Kina in Rokana. It was when I reached Falira that I learned from Moltres about what you are trying to do here. By the way, she wishes strongly for your victory. However, she is obeying Lugia’s wishes by not interfering for the moment. I will explain my own reasons for being here soon enough. However, what I want to know is why you did not consult me at all before deciding to declare war on our ex-master.”

Raikou looked a bit taken aback. He then responded, “It is good to hear that Moltres wishes for Ho-oh to fall. As to why I did not consult you… I know that it was your idea to rebel against Ho-oh and refuse to be his slaves in the first place. Still, the truth is that I thought that you wanted nothing to do with this place ever since we left it. I did not want to dredge up bad memories for you, or make you feel as though you had some obligation to help me in any way. I also did not know if you wanted to be put in a position where you might have to fight against Entei after all three of us fought as one recently. I am sorry if I unintentionally offended you by not seeking your council before returning to this island.”

Suicune sighed deeply and admitted, “At least you were acting based on consideration of my feelings, not trying to exclude me. Also, you did not mention not wanting to endanger me. Both you and Entei should know how dangerous I can be when moved to take action. I appreciate your coming clean with me now that I am here.”

Raikou looked over at Suicune and asked her, “It sounds like you are not here to help me bring an end to Ho-oh’s rule over this island. In that case, why are you here, Suicune?”

Suicune replied, “I am here for a far more selfish reason than you are. I want to go to Jirachi’s cave and make a wish there before him. Now, I assume that I will have a significant amount of trouble getting to the cave with Ho-oh and his loyalists on high alert thanks to you and your comrades.”

Raikou nodded and asked, “I am sure that it would be pretty much impossible to access Jirachi’s cave now without Ho-oh’s permission. I can tell you that I absolutely did not start this rebellion with the intention of causing you any trouble. I started it because I have waited far, far, too long to see the end of the one who tried to enslave us. He needs to lose, if not his life, what he treasures most otherwise, his rulership of this island. I won’t allow that arrogant cretin to oppress what was once my home any longer. Now, what exactly is your wish? I can only guess that it is something you both want desperately and consider unachievable by any other means. Those are the main conditions I have always been told for a wish that Jirachi might be willing to grant. Along with only being able to make one wish per lifetime.”

Suicune looked Raikou in the eyes and told him, “As much as this might shock you, pardon the pun, I have decided that I am unworthy of being a Legendary Pokémon. I want Jirachi to remove my immortality so that I might only live for another century or so. I believe that that is the only way that I can forge true bonds with mortals and have the remainder of my time on this world be a life actually worth living.”

Raikou looked about as stunned as Suicune had ever seen him. As he began to recover, he responded, “… and here I was thinking that you were just a loner, never taking on an attendant, or a consort. Living in the wilderness and only allowing those who venerated you to catch an occasional glimpse of you. Suicune… I think that it is great that you want to be able to forge emotional bonds with mortals. Still, I cannot help but think that you would be making a mistake by giving up your immortal life in the pursuit of that noble goal. Even then, I cannot help but imagine the look on Ho-oh’s face if he were to hear that you intend to ‘throw away the gift he gave you’ completely.”

Suicune looked Raikou dead in the eyes again and told him, “I am resolute in my conviction that while you and Moltres might be worthy of immortality and able to cope with the emotional burdens that come with it, I am not. I cannot and will not go back to being the Pokémon that you saw me as until today. I want to live among mortals as one of them as I once did before our transformations. Even if I stay in this body, I want to go back to the existence that I lost.”

Raikou shook his head a bit and sighed painfully. He looked Suicune in the eyes and told her, “It sounds like you will not change your mind so easily. Even if you disagree, I think that the world is better off with you in it then without you. However, I am willing to make a deal with you. I will ensure that you can get access to the cave where Jirachi rests if you will help me to overthrow Ho-oh and see the permanent end of his reign. I do not wish to rule Phoenika myself, at least not in the long term. However, I want this place to be free more than anything right now. My rebellion could really use the aid of someone on par with myself with regard to raw power. What do you say?”

Suicune had had a feeling that things would come to this point. She knew that Ho-oh did not deserve to rule the island he had named after his own title. In fact, he never had. She simply nodded her head and told Raikou, “Agreed. I will help you to overthrow Ho-oh and once that is done, you will not stand in my way when I go to make my wish and relinquish my immortality. Deal?”

Raikou nodded and responded, “Deal. Seeing as though we will be working together for the duration of this conflict, might I ask if your traveling companion will also be willing to assist the rebellion in any way? Also, have you told her about your real reason for coming here?”

Suicune admitted, “She has told me that she is willing to help fight if it comes to it. With regard to her knowledge of my wish, I have told her that my reason for traveling all the way down here is to make a wish before Jirachi. However, I have not yet told her what my wish really is. She might have guessed it by now, based on what I have told her since this trip began.”

Raikou nodded slowly and responded, “I see. I will not interfere in your personal business with your companion, other than to suggest that I think you should probably tell her at the soonest opportunity you get. Certainly, she needs to know the truth before you actually go to make your wish. I believe that one has to enter the cave alone if one is to make a wish before Jirachi.”

Suicune nodded affirmatively and then told Raikou. I will make sure to admit the full truth to her before I go and make my wish. That much I will promise you. Now, would you be comfortable with explaining some more details of your overall tactical situation to me? If I am going to lend my direct aid to your rebel movement, then I will need as much useful information as you can give me.”

Raikou responded, “If you are going to be briefed, then we should go and retrieve Laura and your companion first. I can only assume that you trust her to be able to handle the information that we will supply you with.”

Suicune said, “I do not see why Aurelia should not be given the same information you intend to give me. I have done a pretty good job of disabusing her of the notions she had about Ho-oh before. She has been more than willing to help me so far, despite all that I have told her about my past and my guilt.”

Raikou nodded and told Suicune, as he headed for the main door to the office, “Very well then. By the way, it is honestly good to have you back. I know that we last fought alongside each other only one year ago. Still, we have always made a good team in my opinion.”

Suicune failed to suppress a smile. She knew that she was doing the right thing by helping Raikou, even if her bigger concern was becoming mortal again. She also hoped that Raikou would come to understand her decision better and accept it soon.

It wasn’t long until Laura and Aurelia had joined Suicune and Raikou in the office. The room was large enough to comfortably fit all four Pokémon. After Raikou motioned to Laura, she pointed up at the map of Phoenika on the wall and explained, “Right now, a number of settlements, mostly on the northern half of this island, have agreed to support our cause. However, Ho-oh has divided up his forces. He has ordered Entei to go crush a brewing potential revolt in Etria, the city closest to the mountain stronghold that Ho-oh rules from. That having been the place where all three Legendary Beasts were reborn centuries ago. Much of the rest of Ho-oh’s loyalist armies are believed to be marching right for Larika as we speak. Out scouts believe that they are ignoring other settlements that either have divided loyalties, or are fully supporting our rebellion. They should be here in less than four days at their current pace. With Lady Suicune among us, we should stand a better chance at being able to repel the loyalist offensive and deal a major blow to Ho-oh and his supporters.”

Raikou took over now. He said, “Thank you Laura. …As much as I wish that we could help those who are likely facing Entei now, his absence from the main loyalist force should work to our advantage. We have been recalling more of our allies to Larika recently to help repel the enemy. However, they have left some rear guard units in their settlements and camps just in case. The enemy will only be attacking from the land, so as to avoid facing this city’s mighty naval defenses. Now that Suicune is here, I would like to have her command the defenders atop the land-facing walls of Larika. I will be leading our fighters on the ground. With any luck, we might have a chance to outmaneuver the enemy if we can convince some of the aforementioned rear guards to hit the enemy in a pincer attack. However, that is still unlikely as of right now. If we can rout the force sent to take Larika, then we should be clear to advance south and liberate a significant percentage of this island before we will face heavy resistance from the loyalists again. I am happy to say that my promises of freedom and fair governance have motivated many Phoenikans to abandon their tyrannical ruler and flock to our banner. Winning a major victory or two should help us keep up our momentum.”

Suicune and Aurelia both nodded in understanding. Aurelia told Suicune, “I will stay by your side and provide you with whatever assistance I can when the fighting breaks out. I have faith that we can help the rebels to win this battle.”

Suicune added, “I will follow your orders for now, Raikou. This is your rebellion, after all.”

Raikou smiled at Suicune and told her, “I understand, but please know that I will take your counsel regarding both major and minor decisions seriously if you see fit to offer it. Laura, please have someone take Suicune and Aurelia to the Seaview Inn. I will approve their accommodations being paid for, along with any other reasonable expenses that they might accrue while staying there.”

Laura bowed to her Lord and Aurelia said, “You are too kind, Lord Raikou. Thank you for your generosity.”

Raikou nodded and added, “You two are providing my forces with valuable assistance. Also, I still consider Suicune to be the closest thing I have to family. That is especially true considering how I feel about Ho-oh and the fact that Entei still loyally serves him. Focus on enjoying your stay for now, but be ready for action at a moment’s notice.”

As Laura opened the door and led Suicune and Aurelia out of the office, Suicune told Raikou, “I have faith in your leadership to see this through. I will offer you what strategic and diplomatic advice I can, since you seem to trust me so much. Just remember our deal. Also, thank you for the family comment, I would say that I feel pretty much the same way about you.”

Raikou nodded as Laura took Suicune and Aurelia to find someone to take them to their new accommodations. Suicune was looking forward to getting some rest. However, she also fully intended to do her best to help Raikou. He was her best shot at reaching her goal. Also, she could not let her only “family member” down now that they were together again.


	10. The Battle of Larika

Suicune and Aurelia had done their best to enjoy their three-day stay at the Seaview Inn in Larika. The small hotel had provided some nice amenities for the duo, allowing them to have a longer rest than they had gotten at the Igneous Citadel. Aurelia had reaffirmed her commitment to helping Suicune during their stay. She had said that this was still her best chance at an adventure of her own. She had also said that it really sounded as though removing Ho-oh from power was best for Phoenika and the right thing to do in general. Suicune had still not disclosed the true nature of her wish to Aurelia. However, she was well aware that there would soon come a time for that truth to come out.

During her stay at the Seaview Inn, Suicune had spent some time meeting with Raikou, Laura and some of other rebels about their overall situation. It sounded like Ho-oh was throwing a good number of his loyal fighters into attacking Larika directly. Entei was still reportedly far to the south putting down a revolt far closer to Ho-oh’s seat of power. Raikou was somewhat confident that his fighters could repel the loyalist force that was currently making a beeline for Larika. That was even more true now that some more of his allies had come to reinforce the city and Suicune had agreed to join his cause.

Three days after Suicune and Aurelia had arrived in Larika, Raikou had gathered his supporters in the plaza surrounding the city hall. It was early in the morning still, Suicune and Aurelia had been roused from their sleep and told to hurry to the city center.

As Raikou looked over his combat-ready supporters, who numbered at least two-hundred, he began, “Everyone, we have little time to waste. The loyalist force sent to seize this city by land is almost here. They number at least as many as we do, according to our scouting reports. We believe that they also will have artillery units being moved south behind the main bulk of their force. Finally, they have a few dozen airborne Pokémon flying above their ground forces. That means that we will be facing attacks from both the ground and the air at once, along with a possible artillery barrage.”

Raikou took a quick breath and then explained, “We do have plans to weather this storm, as it were. We have dug a trench network in front of the main gate of the city and I will be personally leading a number of defenders in those trenches along with my attendant Laura. Suicune will be leading our defenders on the southern walls, along with her companion, Aurelia. Their job will be to keep our own artillery pieces well-defended and firing consistently. They will also have to focus on engaging the enemy’s flyers. That unit will include more fighters with long-range attacks than my ground squad in the trenches will. Our own flyers will either be engaging the loyalist air units as well, or making attacks runs against the enemy infantry and artillery on the ground.”

At that point, a large bell could be heard ringing directly to the south, Raikou finished, “We will be leaving a small rear guard in the city behind the southern gate. We must all remember that victory in this battle will put a real dent in Ho-oh’s forces and allow us to seize greater momentum. Now, let’s move out! That alarm bell ringing means that the enemy has been sighted.”

Suicune headed up to the southern walls of Larika with Aurelia and many others in tow. The southern gate of the city opened to allow Raikou and his defenders to take up their positions in the hastily-dug trenches. It was closed soon after once everyone who needed to be outside was outside.

Now, Suicune was standing on the battlements of Larika with Aurelia by her side. They looked out at a vast arid plain before them, which was only dotted by the occasional patches of brownish tall grass. In the distance, but getting closer quickly, Suicune could see at least two-hundred enemies. Many of them were flying. However, most of them were advancing on the ground. They were wearing sashes and caps colored in red, gold, white and green. These were those who stood by Ho-oh and were willing to fight to keep him in power. Suicune could not help but not feel much sympathy for them.

Aurelia said, as artillery crews took up positions at the catapults and ballistae on the walls and rebel flyers began to hover and circle above them, “There are a lot of them… Still, we have the defensive advantage and the high ground in our case. I have no intention of fleeing here and I know that you do not either, Suicune.”

Suicune simply nodded as she ordered, “As soon as the battle is joined, I want the artillery to focus on thinning the enemy forces on the ground! Everyone else should try to focus on taking out enemy flyers. They will likely be coming to us. If they don’t do that, then we will have to make them come to us!”

Raikou’s rebels on the walls all nodded, or saluted, in response to Suicune’s orders. Suicune knew that for all they knew, she was as invested in overthrowing Ho-oh as Raikou was. Of course, Suicune could not deny that she was doing the right thing here, even though she had not come to Phoenika as a revolutionary. She was still determined to use her accrued tactical expertise to keep as many of her new subordinates alive and conscious as possible and ensure that Larika held. If the rebels had to flee the city, it would severely set their movement back, to say the least. Also, Suicune hated to think of the smirk that would cross Ho-oh’s beaked face if he received news that his army had won the day. Conversely, Suicune wished that she could see the look on his face if the rebels carried the day and Ho-oh learned of his followers’ defeat.

Now, the loyalists were picking up the pace of their land and air formations’ advance across the dry plains. A Rhyperior seemed to be acting as the main enemy leader on the ground, as he was at the very front and center of the loyalist charge. Clearly, Ho-oh, or Entei, had picked a leader who Raikou would have trouble fighting for this offensive.

Suicune carefully observed the battlefield as a few ranged attacks began to fly and power-enhancing moves were used on both sides. The loyalist and rebel flyers were beginning to advance on each other as well. As the ground forces loyal to Ho-oh go closer and closer to the rebel trench lines, Raikou’s followers targeted enemies at the head of the formation first. They focused many of their attacks on the Rhyperior commander at the front of the incoming charge.

As the catapults and ballistae were all loaded and aimed now, Suicune decided that now was the time. She ordered at the top of her lungs, “OPEN FIRE!”

Suicune was relieved, but not surprised, to see that her order was immediately carried out. Raikou and Laura had disciplined their rebels well after all. Four ballistae and four catapults all fired off practically in unison. Heavy projectiles crashed into the middle ranks of the loyalist formation. The shots distracting, and panicking a number of the enemies on the ground who were not directly hit.

Aurelia shouted, “Airborne hostiles incoming!” Mere moments after the artillery had fired. Suicune looked up from the damage the barrage had done on the ground to see that most of the loyalist airborne units were pulling up and making a beeline for her position.

Suicune ordered. As the rebel flyers also moved in to attack their incoming enemies, “Blast them out of the sky! Don’t let them destroy our artillery!” She then saw Aurelia channel a mighty blast of water from her mouth that knocked an enemy Fletchinder out of the sky in one shot. Clearly, the Azumarill was not backing down from her commitment.

As the other rebels on the battlements not reloading the artillery unleashed long-range attacks on the incoming flyers, Suicune targeted an enemy Pidgeot and projected rays of freezing cold from her eyes. The beams struck the enemy square in her chest and she went tumbling to the ground.

As the artillery was nearly reloaded, Suicune saw the airborne unit that she had met when she first entered Larika flying in to engage some hostile flyers. She covered them against an enemy Talonflame by spitting out a rapid-fire series of high-pressure water bubbles from her mouth. The Talonflame was bombarded, sent reeling and crashed into a section of wall below Suicune at full speed.

Now, the rebels atop the walls could hear a few loyalist voices calling out in shock, “Is that Suicune? She’s aiding Raikou! How can we stand up to both of them at once?”

Suicune smirked as the rebel artillery was now reloaded. As she noticed a squad of loyalist Pidgey and Pidgeotto diving in to attack some artillery crews, she darted over closer to them and her eyes flashed with a pinkish light. The resulting blast of mental energy overloaded the enemies’ minds and they all crashed out of the sky, landing on the battlements defeated, or flying into the wall head on.

Aurelia impressed Suicune considerably as she leapt up into the air towards a loyalist Spearow and conjured a small boulder between her hands. The spinning boulder smashed repeatedly into the enemy, who was sent reeling back and spinning out of the sky. Aurelia landed and smiled as she looked for a new target.

Suicune ordered, as the battle kept raging around her, “Fire at will! Help keep the pressure off of Raikou and his fighters below us!”

The artillery crews fired off their heavy weapons into the mass of enemies engaging Raikou’s entrenched forces on the ground. Suicune saw Raikou send out his own blast of mental energy which downed five loyalists closing in on his position at the center of the trench lines. The loyalist Rhyperior who had been leading the charge collapsed to the ground, having taken and withstood a number of attacks previously.

As more loyalists were felled by the second artillery barrage and their airborne units’ numbers were thinning as well, Raikou released a massive discharge of electricity. The mighty blast downed eight more loyalist fighters in rapid succession. The enemy was starting to lose momentum and morale fast.

Suicune targeted a loyalist Noctowl, who was unable to evade the beams of cold fired from her eyes. She tumbled out of the sky after being struck dead on, as had Suicune’s previous targets. Suicune was grateful in the thick of battle that she was as powerful as she was. She was turning the power that Ho-oh had given her against him. Nothing, other than becoming mortal again, could make her so pleased.

Aurelia kept sending out mighty blasts of high-pressure water at the incoming airborne enemies as the other rebels on the walls kept sending up their own ranged attacks. However, Suicune could still see a few other loyalists advancing to join the main battle on the ground. They were having to draw on their reserves now. With any luck, the enemy would soon have to retreat.

Raikou sent a massive bolt of lightning crashing down on a loyalist Poliwrath who had been trying to reach his section of trench, taking him down easily. Laura was leading the rebels nearby Raikou in keeping the enemy from reaching their lines. Suddenly something dawned on Suicune, as she saw the rebel artillery being reloaded for a third and possibly final barrage. Where was the enemy artillery? It had been mentioned before, but where was it now? It would certainly take a while to set up. However, she would have thought that it would be up and firing as the loyalists charged Raikou’s trenches.

Suddenly, Suicune was snapped out of her trance by Aurelia shouting, “INCOMING!” Suicune realized to her horror that her question was now being forcefully answered. Four giant boulders were now flying at the walls of Larika. One of them hit a section of trench, one of them crashed into the ground harmlessly. One of them sailed over the battlefield and hit the armored southern gate of Larika, leaving a massive dent in the gate’s center. The final boulder struck the upper wall and took down a rebel catapult with a lucky direct hit. The loyalists who remained, mainly on the ground, pressed on with renewed vigor as they saw that their artillery was firing now.

Suicune’s eyes narrowed. She knew exactly what she would have to do now. She was the best one for the job of taking down the long-range loyalist artillery before it leveled the southern walls of Larika.


	11. Attacking the Artillery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again readers, I just wanted to give you all some advance notice that I have decided that this story’s sequel will be the final installment in this series. That sequel, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Power, is still going to be posted soon after this story is fully posted. This absolutely does not mean that my writing stories and posting them on this website is going to stop. I already have some vague ideas for future PMD-inspired work that could take place in a new setting, or possibly even in the distant past, or future, of this series’ setting. I might even want to write a PMD story loosely inspired by some elements of the recently-released Crown Tundra DLC. Regardless, my next PMD-based story will not be a direct, or semi-direct, sequel and therefore should not have “required reading.” Thank you all for reading this far, I really mean that.

As Suicune looked out at the battlefield before her while standing atop the battlements of Larika City, she could make out four distant shapes. She recognized the artillery pieces as examples of a type of large catapult called trebuchets. Those siege machines must have been what flung the boulders at the walls of Larika. Seeing the section of wall that had been torn into by one of the trebuchet’s boulders, Suicune knew immediately that someone would have to take that heavy artillery down and fast.

Even though the loyalist flyers were still taking heavy losses, rebel morale was starting to decrease. The enemies on the ground were still not relenting in their assault on Raikou’s trench line. They had been emboldened by the fact that their artillery had begun to fire behind them. This battle was unlikely to be won by the rebels unless the artillery was taken down quickly, or at least the crews were distracted enough that they could not reload and fire their heavy weapons again.

Suicune quickly looked over to Aurelia, who was standing beside her. She then ordered, “Take command here! I am going to deal with the enemy artillery myself! If any flyers can get a clear path to follow me, then have them do so!”

Aurelia rapidly saluted Suicune and told her, “Good luck!”

Suicune nodded briefly and then summoned a roaring series of wind gusts directly behind her. She then leapt up into the air as far forward as she could and rocketed forward using the raw force of the winds. The winds she had summoned also created a cushion of air below her that she used to greatly extend her flight time. That was a technique that Suicune had used before. However, that time it had been to ensure a safe and slow descent into a dangerous location. This time, she was trying to leap over a medium-sized battlefield in a matter of seconds.

As loyalist ranged attacks from the air and the ground flew past her, Suicune was carried by the winds over the main fighting on the ground. She looked down and saw Raikou trying to inspire his followers by standing up fully and discharging a mighty series of electric blasts. His attack targeted a significant number of the loyalists who had closed in on his position hoping to take him down and out of the battle. 

Suicune did all that she could to will the winds to keep carrying her south as Aurelia and the fighters she had been commanding kept her covered against the remaining enemies in the skies. When she finally hit the ground on all four limbs, she kept running south away from the main battle. She had managed to shoot over the fighting, successfully evading any enemy attempts to snipe her in the process.

Suicune bolted south with the north winds behind her. She was moving as fast as she could, knowing that she would not have to sustain this speed for all that long. It did not take Suicune long to get a good view of the four loyalist trebuchets set up a short distance from each other on a stretch of the arid badlands. It looked like the artillery pieces were being readied to fire a second time by their crews.

Hoping that the artillery crews would not be as tough as the frontline loyalists and determined to defeat them either way, Suicune saw that these enemies were starting to take notice of her rapid advance towards them. However, her biggest concern was stopping the trebuchets from launching a second round of boulders towards Larika’s defenses.

As a few ranged attacks began to fly at her and Suicune began to rapidly bob and weave, she glared up at the where the swinging arm of the nearest and westernmost trebuchet met its support beam. She unleased her freezing eye beams at the heavy weapon and a significant portion of it was flash-frozen and began to crack.

With one of their machines rendered inoperable, the artillery crew Pokémon nearby began to focus on the advancing Suicune. A loyalist Primape led a squad of six Mankey towards her at full speed.

Suicune sighed as she rapidly changed course and rushed the incoming simian Pokémon. Her eyes flashed with pinkish light as the Primape lunged at her. All seven enemies clutched their heads and fell to the ground unable to fight any longer. Suicune had aimed her mental blast well. 

Now, Suicune withstood a few ranged attacks from some of the artillery crews. However, she targeted the second trebuchet and fired her freezing eye rays into the closer series of its wooden support beams. As the beams cracked and splintered, now extremely brittle, the trebuchet collapsed to one side, sending its crew scattering and crushing one of them under its weight.

Suicune smiled as half of the hostile artillery was now inoperable. She refocused herself and rapidly and gracefully dodged a new series of ranged attacks aimed at her. She saw a Toxic Slowbro leading the small unit of massed loyalist soldiers trying to protect their artillery from her. Deciding to deal with that small formation before destroying the final two trebuchets, Suicune bolted towards the enemies at full speed.

As all manner of energy blasts and projectiles flew past her, Suicune’s eyes flashed once more and the cone of psychic energy downed most of the hostiles. The Toxic Slowbro remained standing and fired a blast of toxic sludge at her from the shell-covered hole on one of his arms. Suicune took the hit and smirked as three of the enemy commander’s wounded subordinates were now falling back in a panic. Suicune then lunged forward and dodged an attempted headbutt from the enemy’s glowing head. She then grabbed the enemy’s midsection in her mouth and bit down hard.

The Toxic Slowbro let out a screech of pain and then slumped over in Suicune’s mouth. Suicune flung him out of her mouth quickly. He collided with one of his fleeing subordinates, a Drowzee, as Suicune had intended.

As Suicune mentally remarked that the enemy she had just bitten practically in half had tasted really bad, she saw a pair of hostile Natu fluttering down to attack her. However, the two Emolga Suicune had met before, Nico and Katia, came shooting out of the sky followed close behind by more rebel flyers.

Katia shouted down to Suicune, “We’ll cover you! See if you can finish off the other trebuchets!”

Suicune smiled up at the new arrivals as Nico and Katia downed one of the Natu with a pair of conjured lightning bolts. She then rushed to attack the third trebuchet. This time, Suicune saw that the weapon’s crew were almost finished readying it to fire again. They had almost certainly taken advantage of the distraction that the Toxic Slowbro and his small unit had provided them.

As the enemy crew saw Suicune coming close to their position, a rebel Swellow and two Taillow dive bombed them. That distraction allowed Suicune to fire her freezing rays into the trebuchet’s support beams, toppling it and scattering its crew.

It was looking now as though the force Ho-oh had sent had lost all of its frontline airborne Pokémon. Only one trebuchet remained. It managed to get one boulder fired into the distance. However, the crew had had no time to adjust their aim and the giant projectile missed both the battlefield and the walls of Larika as it flew off into the distance.

Suicune decided on the fly not to destroy this trebuchet. It could prove useful later if it was seized by the rebels after all. She charged ahead while spitting a barrage of high-pressure bubbles at the heavy weapon’s crew. A Rhyhorn guard and two Combusken crew members were downed in rapid succession by Suicune’s barrage. The other crew Pokémon retreated south as fast as they could.

As Suicune thought that the loyalists would no longer have active artillery support now, she saw her close air support taking down a few of the, now panicked, loyalists who had failed to fully retreat from the scene. She called out, “See if you can capture the still-usable trebuchet! We might be able to scavenge what is still usable from the ones that I destroyed as well. I am headed back to the main battle!”

Nico called back, after he and Katia blasted an enemy Xatu out of the sky with lightning, preventing her escape, “Understood! You really saved the day for us by taking down the trebuchets that you did!”

Suicune nodded and failed to suppress a smile as she began to run north back to the main battle. As she closed in on Larika from the south, she saw that a few rebel flyers were circling the city’s southern walls. She soon came to realize that the loyalists were retreating and not even in an organized fashion. Raikou’s defenders had rallied and broken the enemy’s morale. The fact that no more trebuchet boulders had struck the walls of Larika thanks to Suicune had to have helped the rebels to win the day.

As Suicune reached the area where the battle had been taking place and surveyed the trenches and the dry fields beyond them, she saw Aurelia and Laura heading her way.

Aurelia looked tired and worn, but triumphant nonetheless. She told Suicune, “We won! Without their artillery supporting them anymore and thanks to Lord Raikou’s bravery in leading a counter-charge, the enemy ranks broke up and they scattered south as fast as they could.”

Laura added, “Lord Raikou took some heavy hits in the battle, but is recovering as best as he can now. He knew well that losing Larika could destroy our rebellion’s momentum, so he valiantly led our fighters out of the trenches to try and reach their artillery. However, you took the initiative admirably and most of our air units followed your example. You were truly pivotal in helping us to win this battle, Suicune. Without your raw power being brought into play on our side, I do not know if our flyers could have bested the enemies guarding and monning those trebuchets.”

Suicune nodded and replied, “I just did what I thought was best given the situation. I asked our flyers to keep the trebuchet I did not destroy or heavily damage intact. It could possibly serve us well in the future. Now, where is Raikou at the moment?”

Laura replied, “My Lord is currently just inside of the city walls. He saw you going after the enemy’s artillery and will probably want to make sure that you are alright. You only look a little dinged up, so you are in better shape than he was when I last saw him.”

Suicune told Laura, “Thank you for that information.” She then looked down at her traveling companion and told her, “Aurelia, I think that you performed excellently in that battle. I still deeply appreciate that you are putting your life on the line for my sake, even after my earlier confessions. You may come with me to see Raikou, or stay with Laura. I will leave that up to your judgement.”

Aurelia nodded and saluted Suicune. The Azumarill was getting surprisingly invested in the conflict, Suicune noted. Aurelia told Suicune, “I will see what help I can be in tending to the wounded and unconscious on our side and assisting with other cleanup operations. Thank you for your praise L…Suicune.”

Suicune could not help but chuckle as Aurelia had obviously almost called her ‘Lady Suicune’ again. She then began to head around the trenches and into Larika. She wanted to see how Raikou was faring. She knew that he would probably be happy to see her and feel comfortable in the knowledge that his forces had won the battle for Larika. As Suicune entered the city, she could hear civilians and fighters alike cheering and celebrating their victory. She could not help but smile, knowing that they were now one step closer to overthrowing her former master and seeing the island of her birth liberated from his reign. Even if she would not admit it as readily as Raikou had, she knew that Ho-oh had reigned over Phoenika unchallenged for far, far, too long.


	12. Gaining Momentum

As Suicune walked through southern Larika in search of Raikou and saw the rebels and their civilian supporters cheering and celebrating their victory, she could not help but feel pride in herself for the first time in a while. She had actually played a key role in ensuring that the rebels carried the day. Still, there were things Suicune felt she had to atone for. Her lack of honesty and openness with the citizens of Creekside still weighed on her mind. She needed to survive this conflict so that she could return to the Grand Island, hopefully as a mortal. Then, she would tell the truth, apologize as best as she could and ask for forgiveness from the populace of the Creekside region.

It was not long, as Suicune headed towards the city hall, until she was approached by Raikou. The mighty Legendary Beast looked reasonably beaten up after the battle. Suicune was practically uninjured compared to him. However, Raikou also looked triumphant, as he arguably had a right to look and feel right now.

Raikou smiled over at Suicune and told her, “I am glad to see that you are alright. Not that I thought you could not handle the enemy artillery positions and their defenders alone. Still, that maneuver you pulled was bold and honestly heroic, nobody could fairly deny that.”

Suicune sighed very slightly and managed to suppress a blush. After that, she replied, “I did what I thought was necessary to secure victory. As per our deal, I am helping you and your rebels as best as I can. The good news is that I took down three of their trebuchets and hopefully your subordinates are securing the fourth and final one for our use now.”

Raikou chuckled and responded, “I can tell that your self-respect has really gone down lately. Still, you should be willing to be proud of yourself, Suicune. You really helped us out not only by commanding our defenders atop the walls, but by stopping their artillery from getting even one more full barrage in. Honestly, seeing as though a few loyalists did get away, it should not be too long until Ho-oh himself gets the news that his followers lost the battle for Larika. I wish I could be there to see how he takes it. Once news of our victory spreads, we should be able to accelerate the pace of defections to our side and begin to push south in earnest.”

Suicune nodded and replied, “I understand. Still, this is your rebellion, not mine. As much as I want to see Ho-oh overthrown, coming here to actualize that desire was your idea and you deserve the credit for it. This time, you took the initiative. I have simply been acting in order to see my own personal desire fulfilled, instead of to liberate others. Especially after seeing and hearing about your actions in the battle we just won, I can see why so many Phoenikans flocked to your banner so quickly.”

Raikou just nodded back at Suicune and told her, “While I appreciate your praise, you would do well to remember that it was your idea for us to refuse to be Ho-oh’s slaves in the first place centuries ago. Maybe, maybe, you have lost your way a bit over the years, sure. Living as a wandering hermit of sorts and not doing much with your existence. However, you have always been up to the challenge when a major crisis arises. Also, you have expressed a clear desire to change your dead-end lifestyle. My point is that even though I still really disagree with your desire to forsake your immortality, you need to lighten up on yourself.”

Suicune knew that Raikou had some good points. She still felt like she had been a lazy fraud with regard to allowing the citizens of Creekside to view her as some sort of local deity. However, she was trying to make things right in that regard now, after all. Maybe she needed to redevelop her self-respect a bit. Of course, once she was mortal again, she would feel ready to live out her years as the best Pokémon she could be. Ideally, she would do so in the company of mortals who she could actually call her friends and equals.

Raikou then continued, “Suicune, I am glad that you are here with us now. And that is not just because of the raw power that you bring to the table. I really should have at least informed you of what I was planning back on the Grand Island. I do not know what your reaction would have been then. Still, it was improper of me to not tell you about what I planned on doing and I see that now.”

Suicune blushed a bit and smiled over at Raikou. She then told him, “Thank you for that apology, even though I had already forgiven you on that count. Anyway, I also wanted to mention that my companion Aurelia fought admirably in the battle. To be frank, she was even more tenacious and effective as a combatant than I expected her to be.”

Raikou smiled back at Suicune and told her, “We can use all of the competent fighters we can. The good news is that we now have a real advantage that we can press against those who still stand with Ho-oh. We will advance south into the more verdant regions of Phoenika, picking up new recruits as we go. Any loyalists we run into will hopefully be demoralized, disorganized and easily dispatched. Other than Ho-oh himself, my biggest concern is when and where Entei will be deployed. Having you here will make dealing with him easier when the time comes for that confrontation. I do not want Entei to die, but I am ultimately willing to face anyone in battle who believes our former master deserves his position, and should continue to hold it.”

Suicune asked, “What would you have me do in that case?”

Raikou responded, “When we march south from this city and meet up with our allies from the nearby towns, I want you to head up our reconnaissance units. You will be key in helping us determine enemy numbers and positions in advance of our main force’s arrival. While I am considered the head of this rebellion and you have readily acknowledged that, I want to give you a title fitting of your strength and experience for the duration of this conflict.”

Suicune quickly replied, “I do not like being referred to as ‘Lady’ anymore. So that is right out. If you insist on giving me some sort of rank, it should be military in nature.”

Raikou nodded and then smiled, looking like he had just thought of something. He said, “In that case, seeing as though I am placing you in charge of reconnaissance and making you effectively my co-second-in command alongside Laura, I hereby confer upon you the rank of General.”

Suicune was not exactly an expert in military ranks. However, she knew from her centuries of life that in large forces a General was someone with broad authority over many lower-ranking officers and enlisted soldiers. She had heard that their authority could be trumped in some armies by Marshalls, sometimes called Field Marshalls. Even though she thought it strange to have a General in such a small army, she kind of liked the sound of “General Suicune.”

As Raikou looked to be awaiting her response, Suicune nodded at him and then said, “General it is then. Unless you have further need of me, I think that I will be off to locate Aurelia and tell her of my new assignment.”

Raikou nodded back to Suicune and told her, “Very well then, General. I will let you know when I next require your assistance, or counsel, as we prepare to march forth from this city. Just remember that I am glad to have you here and so are my other followers. We can win this thing and free this place together.”

Suicune nodded back at Raikou one more time and then turned around to go find Aurelia. It seemed like she was hanging around Laura quite a lot lately. When Suicune found the Creekside Prelate, she would inform her of the new rank that she had been granted. Knowing Aurelia, she would probably be happy for Suicune. As for how Suicune felt, she stayed focused as best as she could on getting her wish granted. However, she could not help but follow Raikou’s advice and recognize what she had achieved that day and how many rebel lives she might have saved through her actions.

\---

Atop the Mountain Stronghold of the Legendary Phoenix Ho-oh four days after the Battle of Larika:

The Legendary Beast of Fire, Entei, was making his way up the ancient stone steps that let to the open-air throne chamber of his master. He had recently managed to quell a brewing revolt in the nearby city of Etria. Etria was where he had died and then been revived by Ho-oh into his current immortal form. It very well may have been his home when he was a mortal. As it was the closest city to the mountain stronghold, it was critical to the loyalist’s overall strategy that Etria be kept securely in their control. However, Entei had a strong feeling that he had only managed to keep the rebel sympathizers in the city suppressed for the time being. Many of them had likely survived the raids he had led and slinked off into the shadows to await a more opportune time to rise up again.

As Entei crested the top of the ancient stone staircase, he saw the expansive, flat, roughly circular, rocky platform extending out in front of him. There was a raised thronelike pedestal decorated with all manner of exquisite gems near the center of the platform. In the distance, another path led through some cliffs up to the ancient cave where it was said a Legendary Pokémon called Jirachi slept. Jirachi was said to grant wishes to those with pure and non-harmful desires if they could reach him. However, his power in the service of granting those wishes was not believed to be infinite. He could not, for example, resurrect those who had been dead for longer than a day it was said.

Entei refocused himself as he walked towards the glimmering pedestal. As he did so, his master descended from some clouds not far above. The Legendary Phoenix Ho-oh landed on his “throne” and looked down at Entei. The Legendary Beast did his best to bow to Ho-oh as he always did. Still, he knew that the news her was bringing would not please his ancient master.

Ho-oh finally spoke. In his officious and commanding voice, he asked, “Entei, what news do you bring? What was the result of your mission in Etria?”

Entei responded, “My Lord, I managed to lead a series of raids that put an end to multiple small cells of rebel sympathizers in and around the city. However, I regret to inform you that I bring woeful news as well.”

Ho-oh asked, his voice quickly filling with frustration and condescension, “And what might that news be?”

Entei responded, “Our forces sent to try and retake Larika and defeat Raikou’s army there were routed, My Lord. Only a few stragglers escaped the battle and reported back to the nearest loyalist position they could find. We also now believe that Raikou is leading his army south from Larika and that most of Phoenika north of the forests near our island’s center has thrown in with him, or will soon.”

Ho-oh was clearly enraged. As usual when he got bad news, he tried to keep his composure, considering that he did not view fits of rage as becoming of a being like himself. However, he was obviously fuming. Much of his army had been wiped out and he was losing control of the place he had ruled for millennia. He had no reason to be happy right now. The bad news for Entei was that his report was not over yet.

Entei looked up and sighed. He then told his master, “Your Lordship… I must inform you that there is one more critical detail which I need to make you aware of.”

Ho-oh gave Entei a look that was clearly hard to decipher. He understandably did not want to hear any more bad news at the moment. However, the Legendary Phoenix asked, barely keeping himself under control, “Yes? What is it?”

Entei responded, “My Lord, the loyalist survivors of the assault on Larika have reported seeing Suicune among the rebel forces there. She even was said to have personally attacked and crippled most of the heavy artillery that was brought to help breach Larika’s southern walls….”

Ho-oh finally lost his temper. He looked directly up into the air and breathed a massive blast of fire into the sky that punched a hole in a cloud above him. As the gigantic flare just kept shooting farther and farther into the sky, Ho-oh screamed, “SUICUNE! That pathetic traitor has returned as well?” Ho-oh then began to calm himself and added, “I should have foreseen that she would stand with Raikou against me the moment he began his profane rebellion. I do not know what has motivated her to come here now. Still, she did confess to having inspired Raikou to leave my service along with her in the past. …That does not matter now. Both of those defiant fools will pay with their lives for coming back here and challenging my divinely-mandated rule of Phoenika!”

Entei simply asked Ho-oh, “What would you have me do, My Lord?”

Ho-oh quickly responded, muttering a bit at first, “We our on our own here, my loyal servant. Lugia refuses to aid me against the rebels. Of course, she has at least kept Moltres from aiding Raikou. Moltres has hated me ever since I tried to take both her and Falira under my control. …As for your orders, Entei, you are to amass as many loyal fighters as you can and march to Arbita Fortress located in the forests directly north of here. I want you to try and engage the rebels there and stop their advance south. Even though there is the risk that they will try to maneuver their armies around that ancient stronghold, the rebels will likely try to seize Arbita before advancing towards Etria and this mountain. Failure to hold Arbita will put Etria and this very seat of power in jeopardy. Do you understand?”

Entei nodded and then turned around. He did not like the idea of having to fight Raikou and Suicune. However, he had thrown in with the one who had given him a second, immortal, life and he was not going to change his mind now after all of these centuries. Entei also knew that he should probably have been present at the Battle of Larika. The loss there had crippled loyalist morale and seriously emboldened the rebels. Entei was unsure if he could amass enough loyal soldiers to hold Arbita, even with a solid defensive advantage.


	13. The Phoenikan Forests

\---

It had been a total of twenty days since the Battle of Larika had ended in a route for Ho-oh’s loyalists. The trebuchet that Suicune had not destroyed was seized by the rebels in the aftermath of their victory. Messages had been sent via courier all over Phoenika reporting news of the rebels’ victory over the force sent to seize Larika. Things were not looking good for those who refused to abandon Ho-oh. However, the conflict was still far from over.

Not long after the defeat of the force sent to capture Larika, Raikou led his growing army south from the port city. As they advanced south, they reached more lush and verdant areas than the arid far north of the island. With Suicune heading up forward scouting parties and Aurelia coordinating her subordinates’ recon efforts to the east and west, the rebels rapidly swept south. As pretty much all of northern Phoenika had declared support for the revolution, the loyalists were retreating rapidly back in the direction of the city of Etria and the Mountain Stronghold that Ho-oh ruled from.

Raikou had been able to partially explain his ability to more easily win over those in northern Phoenika to Suicune and Aurelia. He had cited the historical reality that the settlements north of the verdant forests the rebels were now heading towards had always seen themselves as more independent of Ho-oh’s rule than most of the southern settlements. This was in large part due to geography. The longer distance between settlements like Larika and the island’s seat of power meant that the northern regions were somewhat harder for Ho-oh to control. Of course, loyalist mayors had run many towns and cities, including Larika. However, many of them had been quickly ousted soon after Raikou’s return to Phoenika.

The promise that Raikou was making regarding more egalitarian governance of the island seemed to appeal to many Phoenikans as new recruits swelled the ranks of the revolutionary army as it marched, slithered and flew towards the forests that stood between them and the city of Etria. Raikou had learned of an old fortress along the main road through the forests that was called Arbita. He was well aware that there was a very good chance that he would have to capture that position before moving on Etria and then preparing for the final operation his army would undertake. That being the assault on Ho-oh’s mountainous home.

For her part, Suicune made sure to coordinate her air and land scouts well. Their main job was to track loyalist movements and ensure that the rebels were not outflanked, or ambushed, by their enemies. As her subordinates continued to submit new reports and she did her own field scouting, Suicune had been getting more and more sure that many of the surviving loyalists were converging on the rough location of Arbita. She would bet a significant amount of money, if she had any, that that was where the enemy would try to make a real stand. The loyalist fighters had been retreating for the better part of a month. However, they were almost certainly not going to fall back all the way to Etria, or the Mountain Stronghold, just yet.

Despite the recent successes of the rebel movement, Suicune still had one significant concern. That concern being where Entei could be. She was pretty sure that Ho-oh would stay in his home base and observe the conflict for as long as he could. The Legendary Phoenix was very powerful. Still, he was known among those who knew him well to loathe the idea of risking his own life in direct combat. Was Ho-oh holding Entei in reserve now? Or, was the fiery beast going to be sent to the frontlines? That was the question the rebels would need to ideally answer soon. Suicune also had still not told Aurelia the true nature of her wish. She fully intended to fulfill her promise to Raikou and tell Aurelia the truth before she got the chance to make that wish. However, Suicune was still so worried that that revelation would trigger a breaking point in the, so far understanding and helpful, Azumarill that she kept procrastinating.

Now, the rebel army had set up a large encampment staffed by over three-hundred Pokémon just to the north of and just inside the forests that covered much of central Phoenika. They were only a day or less from Arbita. Suicune had been told that the fortress sat in a massive clearing in the forests right next to a river that wound through central Phoenika. The river supplied fresh water to the fortress, which had been first built following Suicune and Raikou departing Ho-oh’s service. It had been intended as the main defensive position protecting Etria from the north. It sat on the road leading across Phoenika that went from Larika in the north all the way to Ho-oh’s mountain in the south.

It was somewhat early in the morning now. Inside of the main command tent of the rebel encampment, Raikou stood next to Laura on one side while Suicune stood with Aurelia on the other side, closer to the large entrance flap. They were all looking over a map that mainly depicted Central Phoenika, only going as far south from their current position as Etria.

Suicune looked over at Raikou and Laura, who were waiting for her to give her newest report. She then began, “Based on the information my scouts and reports from rebel sympathizers to the south have brought in, I think that it is very safe to say that the loyalists are planning to make their stand at the Arbita Fortress located within these forests. I cannot tell you for sure if Entei is among them, or how many of the enemy there are in total. However, we also have reason to believe that Ho-oh is unsurprisingly keeping a significant rear guard back at his stronghold. That means that if we win the next battle, we will not have fully deprived Ho-oh of what remains of his army. However, the good news is that we will also not be facing the full might of what forces he has left at once.”

Raikou nodded in understanding and then responded to Suicune, “Thank you for the report, General. I think that we will probably want to take advantage of the forests when we move on Arbita. We can try to surround the fortress, rather than just rush its defenses headlong like our enemies recently did on the plains south of Larika. Unlike the last battle, the trees will make long-range artillery less useful. That was apparently part of why Arbita was built in the middle of a forest. Still, that means that we will be unlikely to face much enemy fire until we advance out of the trees.”

Laura added, “We will probably want to be careful with this operation. We want to keep up our momentum, but also try to take Arbita without being careless and suffering major casualties.”

Raikou nodded in agreement with Laura. He then looked to Suicune and Aurelia and said, “General Suicune, I have a mission for you. I want you, possibly with one or two others, to investigate Arbita while doing all that you can to avoid enemy detection. I know that your speed will let you escape quickly if any enemies do manage to spot you. Your main objectives will be to try and get a rough idea of the enemy’s numbers and who might be in command there. Are my orders clear?”

Suicune nodded dutifully and replied, “Crystal clear. Aurelia, would you be willing to go with me for a stealth mission? I would mainly want you to help keep an eye out for any enemies who might be about to spot me and help me look over the enemy positions to gather intelligence.”

Aurelia saluted Suicune and told her, “Of course. We should try to be back by nightfall, though. I will probably stay a bit behind you after I dismount. You probably have more stealth experience then I do, despite your larger size.”

Suicune nodded in understanding and told Laura and Raikou, “We will endeavor to return by nightfall at the latest. Hopefully, we will come back having learned some valuable information.”

With that, Laura and Raikou wished Aurelia and Suicune good luck. The two water Pokémon left the command tent after that. Suicune allowed Aurelia to get onto her back and they headed off through the forests. Suicune was avoiding the main road for now. She was easily dexterous enough to bob and weave through the trees. She was also probably tough enough to take a head-on collision with a small tree and just keep going as well.

As Suicune headed south with the main road in sight, Aurelia mentioned, “I just hope that there are no Lucario among the enemies at Arbita.”

Suicune replied, “That species is said to be quite rare. Still, if memory serves, they can detect the auras of other living creatures from a good distance away. My aura would probably stick out thanks to my power level, wouldn’t it? By the way, I think that Articuno mentioned having been impressed by a Lucario when I last saw her.”

Aurelia chuckled and replied, “I believe that I know who that is. Alyssa is certainly an impressive individual for sure. She does not give up easily, that one. It was not hard for me to see why Annika fell so hard for her.”

Suicune sighed a bit. She still wished to find true love for herself someday. She believed that becoming mortal again would help her to achieve that goal, along with being able to form real platonic bonds.

The duo darted through the woods for what felt like a few hours at least. Utilizing Suicune’s superior speed, they covered an immense degree of ground that would take far longer for most land-bound creatures. Eventually, Aurelia pointed out a massive clearing not far ahead of them. Suicune stooped in some very tall grass near a section of the clearing’s northern edge and crouched down low. Aurelia dismounted Suicune and the two of them looked out at the imposing stone building nor far away from their position. That had to be Arbita Fortress.

The towering fortress was composed of a whitish stone that stood out in sharp contrast to the forests that surrounded her. A Ballista was mounted on each of the four turrets that marked the four corners of the outer wall. There was a central tower located inside of the outer wall. A river could be seen flowing past the fortress directly south of her. The main road led right to the iron-reinforced wooden gate of the stronghold. This place was nothing compared to the stronghold where Ho-oh laired. Still, it was impressive for what it was. Suicune wondered if human artisans had been hired to assist in the construction of Arbita. She had been told that that had been the case with the walls and harbor of Larika soon before having left the port city weeks ago.

Suicune noticed some loyalist guards patrolling the battlements of Arbita. She also that the fortress proper was covered in loyalist banners displaying red, white, green and gold colors. She also saw a few small units of loyalist Pokémon patrolling the outskirts of the fortress.

As Suicune and Aurelia were sticking to their cover and keeping their eyes peeled for any enemies who might be able to spot them, Aurelia whispered, “I see a pair of Sentret and a Furret patrolling not far from the clearing’s edge. They seem to be conversing about something.”

Suicune saw the three loyalists Aurelia had pointed out not that far away from her. Seeing that she was not sure how else to gather intelligence at the moment, she nodded and told Aurelia, “Wait here and keep an eye out for any enemies that might be about to spot you. I am going to see if I can eavesdrop on their conversation. It might be nothing relevant. However, they could be talking about something important.”

Aurelia saluted Suicune and said nothing. She slinked down further into the tall grass to make it even harder for any nearby enemies, even airborne patrollers, to detect her.

Suicune smiled over towards Aurelia, not even sure if the Azumarill would see her smile. She then began to creep towards the nearby loyalist patrol through the underbrush, hoping that they would not get too far away before she could eavesdrop on them. As Suicune drew closer, using small gusts of wind to disguise the sound of her movements, she stayed close to the ground. She would hopefully prove her worth to Raikou and his movement once again. She just knew that if the enemies spotted her, she would have to find Aurelia and make a quick getaway.


	14. Scouting Arbita

Despite her height and overall size, Suicune was sneaking effectively through some tall grasses on her way towards a small loyalist patrol consisting of two Sentret and a Furret. The three-member patrol had stopped not far from the edge of the massive clearing that the Arbita Fortress sat at the center of.

As Suicune quietly neared the trio of loyalists, she was quite sure that they had not noticed her yet. She was determined to keep it that way.

It did not take long at all for Suicune to reach the three loyalists scouts. She ceased her cautious advance and stayed as low as she could in a heavy patch of underbrush.

Suicune overheard one of the Sentret saying, “Apparently, the rebels have been sighted by our air scouts. There are hundreds of them gathered at the forests’ northern edge.”

The second Sentret sighed and replied, “That cannot be good for us. Ever since they held Larika, those traitors have been gaining ground. In seems like most of Phoenika has lost their faith in Lord Ho-oh. If we fail to hold them off here, then they will have a clear shot at Etria and then…”

As the second Sentret trailed off, the Furret, who looked to be the leader of the group, said, “We cannot afford to lose our own faith. Lord Ho-oh is an ancient and powerful being. If he decides to engage the rebels personally, then I believe that he will be able to push them back north. …I know that he has not come to the frontlines yet. However, he has sent his servant Entei here to command the defense of Arbita. This time, unlike at Larika, our army will have a Legendary Pokémon on our side. Now, we better keep surveying this area for intruders. Come on, you two.”

As the patrol began to move on, away from where Suicune was hiding, the first Sentret pointed out nervously, “It is certainly good for us that Entei has been deployed here, rather than him staying with Lord Ho-oh. Still, they say that Suicune has joined Raikou’s army recently. Wouldn’t she be very dangerous for even Entei to face off against?”

As the patrol began to get farther away from Suicune’s hiding place, she heard the Furret finishing, “What did I say about not losing faith? Entei will not let our Lord down so easily. I have confidence that we will hold this position. The rebels will be repulsed by this fortress and we will be able to gain some momentum of our own soon enough.”

As the trio of loyalists got farther and farther away from her, Suicune very quietly said to herself, “We will see about that. You three just gave me some valuable information. Now, I know where Entei is.”

Knowing that she needed to report back in to Raikou with the knowledge that Entei was now in command of Arbita Fortress and not wanting to push her luck with more eavesdropping attempts, Suicune quietly crept back towards where she had left Aurelia.

When Suicune returned to that spot, she saw Aurelia where she had left her. The Azumarill had been doing a pretty good job of concealing herself in the tall grass for someone with little practical experience in stealth. Suicune motioned to Aurelia, who quietly got up. The two of them walked north away from the clearing and then Aurelia jumped up onto Suicune’s back once they were out of sight of Arbita.

As they began to speed north, Suicune told Aurelia, “I was not able to determine how many enemies are stationed at Arbita now. However, I was able to learn from my eavesdropping that Entei has been placed in charge of the Fortress. We need to alert Raikou to that fact as soon as we can.”

Aurelia nodded and replied, “It sounds like risking ourselves by coming here was not in vain. If the loyalists wanted to have Entei’s appearance in the upcoming battle be a surprise to us, they will be sorely disappointed.”

Suicune chuckled a bit. However, she knew in her heart that she did not want to fight Entei. That still held true even though he was foolishly standing by Ho-oh as he had ever since his revival by the Legendary Phoenix. She then focused her summoned winds behind her. The winds soon began to propel Suicune north through the forests at a blindingly fast speed.

Suicune, with Aurelia still clinging to her, rushed through the forests. As she got closer to the rebel camp in the afternoon, she began to think about how much fun it could be to sprint through the forests, or almost any terrain, at speeds that few others could achieve. That was one major advantage of the immortal form that Ho-oh had placed her soul in. Of course, Suicune cared more about becoming mortal than she did about returning to her original body, whatever it had been like. The idea of living out her mortal life in the powerful and unique body of a Legendary Pokémon did not bother her. Of course, she would still have to work to make other mortals accept her as one of them. That would be a challenge. However, it was one that she was willing to take on.

As Suicune neared the rebel camp, she slowed down considerably. When she reached the southern edge of the encampment, Suicune walked into the series of tents past a pair of Scizor rebels who were keeping watch. The elite sentries saluted her with their large claws immediately upon spotting her. Aurelia was allowed to dismount Suicune and the two of them headed over towards Raikou’s command tent.

When Suicune arrived with Aurelia at Raikou’s tent, Raikou smiled over at his fellow Legendary Beast and her companion. He asked, “I take it that your scouting mission went well. You are back well before I thought that you would be.”

Suicune nodded and reported, “I was able to eavesdrop on a conversation being held by some loyalist sentries patrolling nearby Arbita proper. While I was not able to get a good read on the enemy’s total numbers there, I was able to confirm that Entei has been placed in command of the loyalists stationed at Arbita.”

Raikou nodded slowly and then turned to Aurelia. He told her, “Aurelia, would you be so kind as to go and find Laura? I believe that she was going to go over our camp’s current food supplies along with our quartermasters. Perhaps you could be of assistance to her in that task?”

Aurelia took the hint quickly. She saluted Raikou and Suicune and then rapidly departed the tent.

Suicune looked over at Raikou and told him, “I take it that you want to discuss something with me in private?”

Raikou nodded and admitted, “I could never understand why Entei has adamantly stood at Ho-oh’s side for all of these years. He has always said that the gift of a second life was something that he felt that he had to repay Ho-oh for through loyal service. Still, Ho-oh did for us exactly what he did for Entei and we caught on to the fact that his intention in reviving us was to make us his pliant, but powerful, personal slaves. You recognized that Ho-oh intended for us to be his property and serve him in perpetuity before even I connected those dots fully.”

Suicune nodded solemnly and replied, “You had to have made your choice to come here and attempt to overthrow Ho-oh with the knowledge that doing so would bring you into conflict with Entei. I made the choice to join you in this endeavor, as per our deal, with that same knowledge. Even if we can find a way to avoid killing Entei, we will have to face him if we want to end Ho-oh’s reign. It seems as though our confrontation with Entei will probably take place sooner rather than later, seeing as though he has been placed in command of Arbita Fortress. I would have to advise you to not try to bypass Arbita based on what I know at the moment. There are too many downsides to such a maneuver. We need to face the enemy there and see if we can strike another heavy blow to the army of our former master.”

Raikou actually smiled as he told Suicune, “You just demonstrated one of things that I most appreciate and respect about you. That being your raw determination. Once you set your mind to something, you rarely change your course or back down. Still, I honestly wish that you were not applying that determination of yours to trying to become mortal again. I will still maintain that even if you do need to be honest with those that worship you and make amends with them, this world is better off with you still in it. I mean, what other creature can purify bodies of water with a mere touch other than you?”

Suicune sighed deeply. She knew that Raikou had a point regarding her ability to purify water. She also knew that he was right about her tendency to set her mind to something and then not back down from it easily. That had been the case as far back as when she had decided that she would refuse to be Ho-oh’s slave, consequences be damned. However, that stubbornness had probably played a role in her adopting and sticking with the lonely lifestyle that she had been engaging in for centuries. Only being pushed to the verge of insanity by guilt and loneliness had convinced Suicune to return to Phoenika with the intent of wishing to become mortal again.

Raikou continued, “I like to think that my words are having an impact on you. The look on your face betrays it, to be honest. Anyway, you did a good job with your latest mission, General. Now, we at least know for sure that the enemy is holding Arbita and waiting for us to come to them. We also now know that Entei is in command of that position.”

Suicune refocused herself, nodded and told Raikou, “One piece of good news for us is that, based on the conversation I overheard, enemy morale is low, or at least middling. Some enemy soldiers are trying to keep their spirits up. However, many of them are very concerned about how this conflict is going for them right now.”

Raikou smiled and added, “In that case, we need to achieve victory in the next battle so that we can weaken their morale even further. Why anyone would serve Ho-oh while having any idea what he is really like is beyond me. I won’t show much mercy to those who are willing to risk their lives on his behalf. I guess that that will have to include Entei unavoidably.”

Suicune decided to ask Raikou, “When would you have us march on Arbita?”

Raikou responded, “Ideally no later than the day after tomorrow. We need to keep up our momentum and ideally take Ho-oh down within the next few months, the longer this conflict draws on, the more lives get lost and the more property gets destroyed.”

Suicune nodded back at Raikou and said, “Just let me know when you are ready to move out, what our plan is and what role you want me to play in it. I will be as ready as ever to do whatever needs doing to make sure we take Arbita.”

Raikou nodded back at Suicune. As she was turning around to leave the tent and go get some food and some rest he said, “I know that if you did not have your wish in mind, you would almost certainly not have come back here. Still, I would hope that there is some chance that you will change your mind before you get the chance to make it. I respect you enough to not try and stop you directly. …However, I stand by what I said about the world being a better place with you in it.”

Suicune decided not to reply. She simply left the tent and headed off to get something to eat. She still intended to do what she had come back to Phoenika to do. She was also hoping to be able to tell Ho-oh about her wish personally. She wanted to see how mad that would make the old tyrant. Either way, she still had a ways to go before she could reach Jirachi’s cave. Arbita Fortress was the next obstacle she and her fellow rebels would need to clear from their way.


	15. The Battle of Arbita Fortress

The rebels at their forest-edge encampment spent the day after Suicune had reported back to Raikou regarding Entei having been placed in command of Arbita Fortress preparing to march on that loyalist stronghold. Raikou wanted them to waste no more time at their current camp and leave for Arbita early the next morning. With only a few rear guards ordered to stay behind at the camp and keep watch there, Raikou’s force of over three hundred marched into the forests the next morning before the sun had even risen in the sky. They planned on closing in on Arbita in the late afternoon to early evening. Raikou had decided that his army should attack Arbita soon after evening fell and the sky above the forests darkened. The darkness would likely advantage the rebel attackers without obscuring things too much. An attack in the dead of night would be trickier due to how much darker the rebels’ and their enemies’ surroundings would be then.

Raikou’s plan of attack involved the rebels, under partial cover of darkness, moving into position to attack the fortress from the north, east and west. From there, they would wait for Raikou to lead the primary charge for the northern gate of Arbita. Suicune would be right behind him, along with Aurelia and Laura. Their goal was to try and draw Entei out so that they could defeat him. If the rebels could take down the loyalists’ commander, then hopefully the enemy’s already low morale would flounder even further. The hope was that the enemy would panic and begin to retreat if Entei was taken down, or retreated himself. The loyalists needed to conserve their forces after their devastating loss at Larika. Suicune had a feeling that they would try to do so if they were remotely strategically smart.

Of course, one potential problem with attacking Arbita was that it was still an imposing fortress. While the rebels were hoping that some of their enemies would march and fly out from the fortress to engage them in open battle. The enemy would still have snipers on the walls along with artillery support in the form of at least four ballistae. The rebels were leaving their own artillery at their camp for the moment. If it were not for the heavy canopy of trees possibly blocking shots, they would have brought it along, even if it would have slowed their advance south down considerably.

In terms of how the rebels planned to take down Arbita’s artillery, they had made sure to recruit a number of new flight-capable fighters to their ranks since their last major battle. The rebel flyers were to head for Arbita’s walls and harry the enemies atop them, mainly targeting their artillery. In addition to the flyers Suicune had met what she had first entered Larika and the Scizor elites who had been acting as sentries, a flight of Hoothoot led by some Noctowl had joined the rebels recently. Some of those new recruits were useful for keeping track of time, as well as scouting and direct combat.

Many other Phoenikans who wanted to see Ho-oh’s regime finally toppled had pledged themselves to Raikou’s revolution in one way or another in the recent weeks. Those reinforcements and their new civilian supporters helped keep the rebels’ momentum going all around the island. Raikou had made it clear to Suicune and his mortal followers that this only meant that there were more and more Pokémon that they could not let down. Gaining more supporters so rapidly had only strengthened his resolve to see the island of his birth freed from the iron taloned grip of Ho-oh’s regime.

Suicune trusted that the rebels’ airborne units would be able to take on the defenders atop the walls of Arbita Fortress. She had been working with quite a few of them since the battle of Larika in her capacity as their General in charge of scouting operations. She had not seen that many enemy flyers when she had scouted out the loyalist position two days ago. That had been very good for her and Aurelia then, because any airborne enemy sentries who ventured too close would have had a much easier time spotting the duo during their recent stealth mission.

Suicune was also still a little upset and nervous about confronting Entei on the battlefield. She knew that he was likely to make a dramatic showing and try to do as much damage to the rebel forces as he could. It would be the job of Raikou and herself to try and get the attention of their “brother” and try to take him down, or force him to flee. They were well aware from past experiences that he, like the two of them, could devastate entire squads of reasonably well-trained mortals. Of course, the last two times Suicune and Raikou had seen Entei in action. He had been fighting alongside them. This time would be very different and there was no way around that fact.

As the sky began slowly darken, the rebel formations began to catch sight of the massive clearing that Arbita sat at the center of. Raikou and Laura divided up their forces into three groups. The most experienced fighters would be a part of the main charge. The two other groups would make their way around the fortress. They were to attack it from both the east and the west after the initial charge had begun. Pokémon capable of flight were assigned to each of the three groups. They knew exactly what their assigned targets were.

As Suicune followed Raikou closely, she knew that they would need to act quickly here. They had eliminated a few loyalist patrols on the way to their target. None of those enemies had been able to escape the rebel force’s combined firepower. However, it was more than likely that the loyalists stationed at Arbita proper would soon begin to realize that their patrols were not reporting back in and act accordingly.

As the two secondary rebel units were nearly in position to begin their charge out into the massive clearing, Raikou was at the head of the rebel formation that was going to head right for the main gate of Arbita. Their flyers were circling and hovering, ready to make a beeline right for the enemy walls as soon as the ground forces charged. For now, the rebels seemed to have the element of surprise on their side. However, they could lose it in an instant.

With Aurelia close beside her and the sky getting slowly darker and darker, Suicune could see lights in the distance that had to be torches and braziers mounted on and atop the walls of Arbita.

After a pair of Taillow couriers reported in to Laura, the Surf Raichu quietly informed Raikou, “My Lord, all of our fighters are in position. We should act quickly as the enemy will likely spot us any minute.”

Raikou nodded and his fanged face took on a look of serious determination. He then ordered, “Forward! Capture the fortress! We will see to it that the loyalists witness the power of free Pokémon bound together by a common cause tonight!”

With Suicune right behind him, Raikou bounded forward towards the edge of the clearing with dozens of his fellow rebels behind and above him. Suicune summoned up some of her winds and came shooting forward right behind Raikou. Aurelia and Laura took off along with the main body of the charging Pokémon staying as close behind Suicune and Raikou as they could.

As three separate rebel units, each of them around one-hundred Pokémon strong, burst out of the clearing, alarm bells rang out at Arbita. Suicune saw that the small numbers of patrolling loyalists in the clearing were confused and stunned by the appearance of the rebels masses rushing them at full speed. She smirked as she remembered a strange human saying that had been relayed to her soon after the liberation of Shawlia. It sounded like the rebels had arrived just in time to catch the loyalists “with their pants down.” Now, they needed to waste no time in taking the fortress and keeping their momentum going.

As the rebel airborne units rushed the walls of Arbita, loyalist defenders scrambled to line the battlements and mon their ballistae. The ballista to the right of the center of the charging rebels was quickly targeted by some fast-moving rebel Noctowl and rendered unable to fire by their well-coordinated attacks. As the loyalist flyers took off and began to dogfight with their rebel counterparts in the evening sky, ranged attacks began to fly towards and from the walls.

Raikou remained focused on the towering main gate of Arbita, which was right in front of him. The few loyalists on the ground who had stood in his way had been quickly dispatched. The ballista to the left of Raikou and Suicune fired off one shot, which landed somewhere in the rebel formation. However, whatever damage it did was not enough to slow the revolutionary advance.

Laura downed a loyalist Fletchling with a bolt of lightning as Aurelia was firing off mighty blasts of high-pressure water from her mouth. As for Suicune, she fired off a barrage of high-pressure rapid-fire bubbles from her mouth towards the enemy defenders on the section of wall that was closest to her. A trio of loyalist Trumbeak flew down to attack the front of the rebel formation as their comrades continued to snipe the rebels from the walls. However, as Arbita’s alarm bells kept on ringing, Raikou channeled an electrical discharge out from his body that blasted all three enemy flyers from the evening sky with ease.

As the rebels closed in on their target, Suicune saw the second frontal ballista atop Arbita being torn to pieces by the claws of one of the rebel Scizor she had seen before. The insectoid flyer Mega-Evolved as her comrade from before flew up to join her in distracting and battling the enemies atop the walls.

Suddenly, the main gate of Arbita Fortress flew open. Suicune’s eyes narrowed as she saw Entei standing in the doorway with at least a few dozen loyalist right behind him. Entei stood his ground firmly as he commanded, “Charge! Strike down the traitors for Lord Ho-oh and for Phoenika!”

Laura pointed towards Entei and called out, “There he is! You were right, General Suicune!”

Suicune nodded and then she witnessed the loyalists defending Arbita following Entei out of the fortress and into battle.

Raikou ordered at the top of his lungs, “Flanking units, the enemy is advancing out from the main gate! Converge on their position and help us to outflank them!”

As the rebels to the east and west began to divide up their forces to try to engage and counter Entei’s ground force, Suicune called out to Entei, “Why do you keep serving that tyrant Ho-oh? Why do any of you fight for someone as arrogant and callous as he has proven himself to be?”

As the three Legendary Beasts charged at the heads of their mortal armies, Entei responded, “Because Lord Ho-oh gave me a second life! He did the same for the two of you and you betrayed both him and me! Your ingratitude is disgusting!”

Raikou almost rolled his eyes as Suicune was right next to him now. As ranged attacks flew from the two forces as they closed in on each other, the rebel flankers charged around the walls of Arbita fortress and towards the main battle as fast as they could.

Entei breathed a mighty blast of fire right into Raikou who looked decently singed. Suicune knew that he might not have dodged the attack out of fear that it would hit, and possibly incinerate, one of their mortal followers if it did not connect with him.

Raikou soon retaliated against Entei and his followers. However, instead of firing off an electrical blast of some kind, his eyes flashed with pinkish light and Entei and at least ten of his followers reeled in pain. Some of the survivors of the mental assault, other than Entei himself, were too stunned to keep moving forward due to the pain they were in.

Suicune followed up as Entei kept charging towards them. She spat out a concentrated stream of her bubbles right into Entei, who recoiled slightly in pain from her attack. Aurelia followed up with a blast of high-pressure water to Entei’s chest.

As their mortal followers closed on each other and a mighty melee broke out in front of Arbita, Entei and Raikou reached each other and began to bite at each other viciously. Neither of them was holding back in this fight. The rebel flyers were doing a solid job keeping the loyalists atop the walls of the nearby fortress from firing many attacks down into the battle below them.

The rebel flankers were now pressing into the sides of Entei’s formation. The loyalists were outnumbered here and facing attacks from multiple sides. Even without artillery support, Raikou’s plan was working so far.

Suicune dispatched a squad of around eight loyalists who were trying to attack Raikou with her own wide mental blast. Aurelia and Laura were staying close to her. Laura took down a loyalist Machamp with a heavy, targeted, mental overload, which dropped the enemy quickly. Aurelia leapt into the air and used a water-covered swing of her tail to down an enemy Pupitar who had been preparing to attack a nearby rebel Noctowl.

Entei and Raikou were still not holding back and both of them were looking quite beaten up by now. While a few more loyalists were venturing out from Arbita’s main gate, they seemed like backup or support combatants. Some of them could even be enemies who had been driven off of the walls by the rebels’ flying Pokémon.

Suicune now turned back to the battle of the “brothers” taking place between Entei and Raikou. She fired off another barrage of her bubbles into Entei’s flank as Aurelia and Laura covered her with their own ranged attacks.

Entei slunk back in pain for a brief moment. That was just long enough for Raikou to unleash a mighty blast of electricity that downed a number of loyalists all around Entei and brought the Legendary Beast of Fire to the brink of collapsing.

Suicune turned away from Entei for a moment to blast a loyalist Yanmega, who had been diving towards Laura, from the evening skies using her icy eye beams. When she turned back she saw Entei summoning up an upheaval of rock and fire around himself. Raikou was knocked back a bit as were many of his elite soldiers. Suicune herself only took slight injury from the blast as she did her best to shelter Aurelia, Laura and a couple of other rebels from it with her body.

Entei called out, clearly heavily exhausted, “Full retreat! We cannot hold them here any longer! Fall back to Etria, everyone!”

As a few of Entei’s less-injured subordinates bravely tried to cover him and their other comrades, Entei turned around and bolted back into Arbita as fast as he could and kept going. Most of his loyalist followers did the same thing. On the ground and in the sky, they turned tail and sped away from the battle as fast as they could.

As the rebels began to pursue their fleeing foes, Suicune realized something. Entei had known that he would have been knocked out, or even killed, if he took another serious hit. The blast he had conjured up had been intended to stall Raikou and his rebels for long enough to give him and his followers some chance at escape. Entei might be a servant of a tyrant. However, he was not going to abandon those loyal to him and Ho-oh to their fates. He had called a general retreat in an attempt to both conserve his allies’ numbers and because he did not want to give an immoral order. Suicune was dead convinced that Ho-oh would not necessarily act with any sort of code of honor like that in mind if he had been in Entei’s position just moments ago.

As Laura floated over to his side, Raikou managed to haul himself up and shout, “Pursue the enemy and capture the fortress! Suicune, do not allow the enemy to destroy any supplies, or important documents, that might be inside of Arbita!”

Suicune nodded, as the loyalists covering their allies were being quickly felled, she then ordered, “Alright, everyone! We have won this day! Now, advance and seize Arbita! Our allies at the northern edge of these woods and around Phoenika will soon know that we have captured a major loyalist stronghold!”

As her fellow rebels cheered, Suicune led the advance inside of Arbita’s walls. She knew that Entei would almost certainly get away and return to Ho-oh. However, the rebels had just come one significant step closer to their final victory. For Suicune, that meant coming one step closer to both seeing her tyrannical former master defeated and getting her wish granted. 


	16. The Road to Etria

It was early afternoon the day after the rebel army had captured Arbita Fortress. Last night’s battle had ended up as another rebel victory. However, Entei had escaped the fall of the position he had been tasked with holding by Ho-oh, along with a few of his subordinates. The rebels had managed to run down a number of fleeing loyalists and defeat them before they could get away. However, Entei and around ten to twenty others had managed to flee successfully. That was out of around one-hundred to one-hundred and fifty loyalists who had been stationed at Arbita before the rebels marched on the stronghold.

Suicune, Aurelia and many of their subordinates had entered Arbita after some of their rebel comrades had gone after the fleeing loyalists in order to prevent as many of them from successfully escaping as possible. She had ensured that the rebels seized Arbita’s stores of food and other supplies, along with any official documents that they could find within the fortress’s walls. Once Arbita had been searched top to bottom for any enemies who might have remained in hiding inside of her, the rebels declared victory. Couriers had been sent out the following morning to inform settlements across Phoenika, and their rear guard camped at the forests’ edge that the loyalists had been defeated once again.

Raikou had been resting quite a bit that morning after his vicious battle with Entei the night before. However, he was still very pleased that Ho-oh’s followers had been dealt a second decisive blow. His consistent argument that Ho-oh’s regime was despised by the common Phoenikan and could be toppled if someone offered them the promise of a better alternative was being proven quite valid. At this point only the city of Etria, the place where the Legendary Beasts had been reborn, stood in between the rebel army and the Mountain Stronghold where Ho-oh dwelled. The biggest question on the minds of most of the rebels now was how they would be able to take Ho-oh’s home base and end his rule for good. Seizing Ho-oh’s towering, multi-tiered, fortress would be more challenging than the assault on Arbita, or the defense of Larika, had been for sure. The fortifications and artillery on even the first and lowest tier of the stronghold could likely shatter any army that came at them without an excellent plan of attack. Even though Etria still stood in his army’s way, Raikou’s biggest concern now was finding a way to breach Ho-oh’s towering headquarters. Of course, he also wanted to do so without excessive losses on the way to possibly confronting the powerful tyrant who’s misrule had inspired the rebellion in the first place.

As for Suicune, she was standing just to the south of Arbita Fortress alone. She was looking at her reflection in the Arbita River that ran through the forests and directly to the south of the fortress that shared its name. She slowly raised one of her front paws and tapped the water. A wave of sparkling energy flowed from the spot that Suicune had tapped. What floating dirt and other impurities this section of the river had carried were removed nearly instantaneously by the wave of energy.

As Suicune watched the effect of one of her unique powers purifying the water until the wave ran out of energy and dissipated, she sighed deeply. She still wanted to become mortal for the purpose of being able to form true emotional bonds with the majority of the world’s inhabitants. Still, it seemed like Raikou and Moltres had been able to do that to some extent while having made some sort of peace with their own immortality.

Suicune hated to think that she was starting to lose faith in her original reason for returning to Phoenika. She had become determined to aid Raikou in his mission to overthrow Ho-oh for the reason of freeing the island of her birth. She was also still very grateful to Aurelia for her ongoing assistance both in and out of combat. It had certainly turned out that the Azumarill Prelate could be quite dangerous when she wanted to be.

At the same time, Suicune was still plagued by guilt regarding the collective delusion that she had allowed the citizens of Creekside Town to believe about her for centuries. She was not a deity of any sort and she indeed hated the one who had placed her soul into its current body. Yes, she was powerful, agile and beautiful in her current body, but she had been made the way she was now to serve as a living tool of sorts. Thankfully, Ho-oh had not been powerful enough to mentally control his three creations telepathically. Entei had stayed at his side thanks to some bizarre kind of blind loyalty. Suicune and Raikou had rebelled against Ho-oh because they wanted to live freely. They had not wanted to be bound by the will of another for eternity.

Suicune decided that she was still not going to tell Aurelia the truth about her wish until it was time to take on Ho-oh’s Mountain Stronghold. That was when the truth could not be kept hidden for any longer. However, Suicune knew deep inside of herself that she was starting to have doubts. Was Raikou truly right when he insisted that it would be doing the world a disservice to remove herself from it? Was she really better than she thought she was? Still, she had come all this way and fought so hard to make her wish a reality. How could she give up on that now? The one thing that Suicune knew for sure was that she fully intended to return to Creekside after the the end of the war for Phoenika. She had to tell them all the truth and most likely ask them to stop worshipping her. Even if somehow she decided not to make her wish, she was going to apologize for her earlier lack of honesty and ask for forgiveness. She knew that that sort of humility, even if it had taken her decades upon decades to come to adopt it, separated her from Ho-oh and anyone like him.

Suicune gazed into the water for a bit longer, admiring her own beauty, but also somewhat hating herself for doing so. She then sighed deeply again and did all that she could to refocus herself on the task at hand. The rebels would move south from Arbita with their artillery within a few days. Their military momentum was likely to reach new heights now that they had taken an important loyalist stronghold. There were likely few Pokémon left on Phoenika who would risk themselves fighting for Ho-oh now. That would be especially true outside of the walls of his towering home. Even those who had been “sitting on the fence” before would likely want to either back the revolution, or at least refuse to aid the loyalists, now.

Suicune wondered what the rebels would find in Etria when they reached the city. At least Etria was not walled. That would mean that if the city had to be taken by force, the loyalists would have more trouble defending her than the rebels had had holding Larika weeks ago.

Deciding that she had done enough introspection for one day, Suicune headed back towards Arbita to report in to Raikou. She was still a rebel General and she still had to play her part in making sure that her subordinates were ready to move out from Arbita within the next few days. Once their artillery was moved to the fortress, along with their rear guard and some fresh reinforcements, Raikou would want to advance south across the grassy plains of southern Phoenika. The rebels next major target would be Etria. Once that city was in their possession, they would begin preparations for what they hoped would be their final battle. Ho-oh had stayed away from direct combat so far. However, if his beloved stronghold came under attack. He would likely cease being so cowardly and show himself. Suicune was very sure that Ho-oh would not flee his stronghold easily. Where else would he even go? Still, she would not let him get away if he did try to flee. Suicune refocused herself on the present and then walked inside of Arbita via the fortress’s southern gate. She still had work to do that day and she would not put it off for any longer.

It took the rebels now stationed in and around Arbita four days to regroup fully, receive new reinfrocements and get their artillery all together in one place. Leaving only a scant few of their less-experienced fighters to guard Arbita, the rebels marched south out of the forests and onto the grasslands that stood between the forested region of Phoenika and the city of Etria.

For the next week following their departure from Arbita, the rebels advanced south across the grasslands. They stopped at a few small settlements, meeting little resistance, along the way. They made sure to resupply and add to their ranks as they went. Eventually, they established a new large-scale camp within sight of Etria’s outskirts. The city’s unique architectural style was visible to the rebels from their current encampment. Ornately decorated buildings with lovely and distinct sloped roofs could be seen within the unwalled city from a reasonable distance.

The morning after the rebel camp had been fully set up, Suicune and Aurelia were meeting with Raikou and Laura in their main command tent. Raikou apparently had a new assignment for Suicune.

Suicune asked Raikou, “Laura said that you had a task for me. What do you need done?”

Raikou smiled over at Suicune and told her, “I admire you enthusiasm, General Suicune. I also know that we all want this war to be over as quickly as possible and for Ho-oh to be defeated once and for all. Now, regarding your next assignment, we are within sight of the city of Etria now. I want you and Aurelia to go and scout out the city’s northern outskirts and see what you can find there. There will not be many places to hide this time, so you will need to rely on your raw speed to stay away from any loyalists who spot you and decide to try and to intercept you. We have not seen any enemy camps positioned to the north of the city, or anywhere else nearby. We do not know what the loyalists are planning, if anything. However, I would like to get an idea of what their numbers are and if they have any artillery, or fortifications, set up somewhere we have not checked yet.”

Suicune nodded and replied, “It will be done. We do not want any complications to arise on our way to Ho-oh’s stronghold. I still wonder how we will take that famed mountain even now. Entei will almost certainly be there, as will the tyrant himself.”

As Suicune turned to leave and Aurelia began to follow her out of the command tent, Raikou told the two females, “I have formed the beginnings of a plan to end this war. However, I will need to think it over more. I will tell you more once we have taken Etria, Suicune.”

Suicune nodded one more time and then left the command tent. She allowed Aurelia to get onto her back and then the two of them walked outside of the command tent. Once they had left the camp and were on the open grasslands directly north of Etria, Suicune summoned up her winds and took off at full speed towards the city where she had been transformed into a Legendary Pokémon. 

As Suicune and Aurelia closed in on the old city, they saw that there were no visible loyalist positions between them and Etria. Suicune mentioned to Aurelia, “That Lucario you mentioned when we were scouting out Arbita Fortress would be a good ally to have with us right now. She could tell for sure if there are any enemies lying in wait for us up ahead.”

Aurelia replied, “I believe that Alyssa would be helpful in this situation, yes. Still, if we are ambushed, I have faith that your speed and power will allow us to escape the area.”

Suicune nodded, thinking that Aurelia’s faith in her was still strong. However, at least in this case it was based on evidence. That being Suicune’s battle prowess, sheer speed and impressive maneuverability. These were all things about Suicune that Aurelia had seen firsthand. Therefore, it was not really faith. It was something more like reasonable confidence. It was not blind, it was based in observable, empirical, reality. Suicune still knew that she had to tell Aurelia the full truth soon. It would not be long now until she would have to “spill the beans” about her desire to become mortal. A desire that was becoming less ironclad, but that was still often at the forefront of Suicune’s mind.

As Suicune spaced out a bit, Aurelia snapped her back into reality by pointing out, “I see a group of Pokémon heading our way!”

Suicune looked ahead and saw that a small procession of Pokémon were heading towards her and Aurelia. There was a female Skiploom at the head of the group of around fifteen. Right behind her was a male Aipom who was carrying a large flag with the help of his tail-hand. Suicune could not help but smile as she realized that the flag was yellow with black stripes. It seemed as though these were likely rebel sympathizers. The question was, assuming this was not a loyalist ruse, something Ho-oh and Entei would probably see as beneath them, what news would this procession bring?


	17. Etria’s Outskirts

Suicune and Aurelia were now walking towards a procession of fifteen excited-looking Pokémon led by a female Skiploom and a male Aipom. Aurelia had just dismounted Suicune. Now, the two females were moving more slowly and cautiously towards the procession that had left Etria to meet them on the open plains directly to the north of the city.

Suicune still did not see any defenses having been erected around Etria, or even directly inside of the city. However, what was more immediately interesting was that this group of fifteen Pokémon had just emerged from Etria and were carrying a flag patterned after Raikou’s fur. Sashes and caps with a similar pattern had become the uniforms for most of the mortal rebels opposing the Ho-oh regime before Suicune had even reached Larika’s harbor over a month ago.

As Suicune and Aurelia were now standing side by side right in front of the incoming procession, the Pokémon who had come from Etria ceased their advance north. The Skiploom at the front of the group seemed to bow to Suicune while smiling over at her and Aurelia. She then said, “Welcome, General Suicune! We are honored to be in your presence and so very glad that your and Lord Raikou’s army has reached Etria. We have come to congratulate you on your victories over the Ho-oh loyalists and welcome you to our fair city.”

Aurelia smiled over at the Skiploom as Suicune asked her, “I have some questions for you. First, what is your name and who exactly are you all?”

The Skiploom blushed a bit and then quickly replied, “My sincerest apologies. My name is Flora and I was the second-in-command of a secret pro-rebel group in this city. When Entei and his soldiers raided out hideout, my boss was killed leading the effort to hold off the enemy. The surviving active rebel sympathizers across Etria went into hiding after that and I came to be our de-facto leader. However, a few days ago, Entei returned to Etria and pulled the Loyalist Army out of the city. Ho-oh has ordered all those who are actively loyal to him within Etria, including civilians, to join him at his Mountain Stronghold to the south. With everyone who was willing to fight for Ho-oh gone, only those who support the rebellion, or are ambivalent to some degree, remain in Etria now.”

As Suicune processed all that she had been told by Flora, the Aipom behind her asked, “My name is Grady, by the way. I could not help but wonder when I heard the news, wasn’t having your title changed from ‘Lady’ to ‘General’ kind of a demotion?”

Suicune actually chuckled a bit as Aurelia looked up at her. She then replied, “I never felt as though I had earned the title of Lady anyways. So, I was fine with the temporary military rank that Raikou gave me after our victory back at Larika.”

As Flora, Grady and the other rebel sympathizers were all looking floored by Suicune’s reply, Aurelia, asked, “So, the loyalists have left Etria for Ho-oh’s personal stronghold. That would certainly explain why there are no visible defenses set up in and around the city. I can only assume that they did not feel as though they had the numbers to hold this place. They could also have been afraid that you might sabotage their defensive efforts from within.”

Flora nodded and replied, “We have gathered some intelligence that explains why those loyal to Ho-oh abandoned Etria when they did. They seemed to want to maximize their chances of defeating the rebellion by holding their mountain with the forces that they have massed there. They feel as though if they win what will probably be the final major battle of this war, they can easily retake the rest of Phoenika after scattering the rebels sent to besiege their base of operations.”

Suicune nodded as Grady mentioned, “From what we have gathered, there will probably be only around two-hundred to two-hundred and fifty fighting loyalists guarding Ho-oh’s mountain at most. Their morale will also be pretty low considering how fast their lord’s grip on this island has been slipping away. Many of them are starting to view him as a coward who refuses to fight his own battles. I think that we have known that for some time.”

Flora told Suicune and Aurelia, “Please go and inform Lord Raikou that his rebels may enter Etria whenever they wish. The loyalist mayor and his loyal officials left with Entei and the others days ago. We have been doing all that we can to keep civil order intact while waiting for your arrival since then.”

Suicune replied, “Very well, we will return to our camp and inform Raikou about the situation here. Just know that if this is any sort of a trap, we have a large, well-motivated, army and two Legendary Pokémon, myself included. This city has no walls and no artillery that I can see. We will march into Etria, whether or not any battle takes place here beforehand. Do we have an understanding?”

Flora nodded and replied, “I understand your concerns, General. We will inform as many of our fellow locals as we can and await the arrival of your full force.”

With that, Suicune allowed Aurelia to get onto her back once again. She then told Flora and her comrades, “We will hopefully see you all again soon enough. Assuming that your story was true, I sincerely thank you all for your valiant efforts and the sacrifices that you have made.”

Suicune turned around and walked north, away from Flora and company. The Skiploom led her procession back towards Etria as Suicune summoned up her rushing winds, which propelled her back towards the rebels’ camp at blinding speed.

When Suicune and Aurelia returned to the rebel camp, they made a beeline for the command tent. Raikou was there with Laura awaiting their report, as it turned out. Suicune gave Raikou and Laura the basics of what Flora and Grady had told her and Aurelia. Aurelia and Laura were then asked by Raikou to go inform the massed rebels that they were to be marching into Etria tomorrow. Raikou asked Suicune to stay with him after Aurelia and Laura left to go carry out their new task.

Suicune asked Raikou, “Do you think that we will be able to enter Etria safely after all?”

Raikou nodded and responded, “I think that the story this Flora gave you checks out. We should be grateful that our army will likely be able to march into Etria without having to engage in urban warfare. You mentioned that she said that her boss was killed by the loyalists while trying to delay them at a pro-rebel hideout. I hate to think that anyone decent has suffered or died because of my rebellion. However, I know that such things are regrettably inevitable. If I get the chance, I will personally make Ho-oh pay for every life lost unjustly, and all the other suffering the good Pokémon of this island have endured under his reign. That I will promise you here and now.” Raikou’s eyes flashed with lightning as he made his vow to avenge those who had suffered under his former master’s rule.

Suicune easily detected the sincerity and conviction in the thunder beast’s voice. She smiled at Raikou and told him, “The sentiment you just expressed is why you are worthy of the title of Lord. I am proud that you are the closest thing I have to family, you know that? I still feel as though I am not worthy of being a Legendary Pokémon. You and Moltres are not the same as I am.”

Raikou almost rolled his eyes at Suicune’s statement. He responded, “All that I can say to that is that if you feel unworthy, then you should work to make yourself worthy in your own eyes. I do not know exactly why you feel as though you deserve disdain and punishment? I still maintain that you are a much better Pokémon than you say you are.”

Suicune sighed and replied, her voice not as filled with confidence as she wanted it to be at that moment, “I intend to work on becoming a better Pokémon for sure. However, I intend to do so as a mortal among other mortals. …Anyway, you know that we will soon be returning to the city where we first became what we are now, right?”

Raikou nodded and told Suicune, his voice sounding completely self-assured, “Yes, I am very much aware of that fact. You probably remember that Ho-oh had the tower dedicated to him where we perished as mortals rebuilt not long before the two of us left his service.”

Suicune asked, “Yes, what of it?” She had a feeling that Raikou was referencing that tower for a particular reason.

Raikou smiled and responded, “After we make sure that Etria is fully secured. I am going to have that tower burned down a second time. This time, no one will die in the fire. However, a great monument to Ho-oh’s ego will be destroyed for good.”

Suicune nodded and replied, smirking slightly at the thought of making Ho-oh even more angry, “Understood. I will take my leave of you now and prepare to pack up and head for Etria tomorrow. I hope that your plan to capture our former master’s stronghold is coming along nicely.”

Raikou nodded back at Suicune and told her, as she was turning around and leaving his tent, “It is pretty much fully formed now, actually. It is a simple plan and yet it is a risky one. However, it could be worth it in the end. I will consult you further regarding it once we are inside of Etria and the second vanity tower is destroyed.”

Suicune just nodded one more time and then left the command tent. She was headed off to find and gather her subordinate scouts. She would then get them all ready to head for Etria the following day.

The next day, the rebels packed up their camp early in the morning and trekked south across the grasslands to Etria. When they arrived, they saw that Flora and her fellow rebel sympathizers had organized as many locals that they could convince to help them into a larger welcoming committee. The rebels entered Etria facing no resistance at all. They got to work soon after their initial arrival finding places to house them all within and around the old city. They also made sure that their supply lines were still functioning and that they would not put too much strain on Etria’s food and water supplies during their stay. Thankfully, the recent loyalist evacuation had meant that the old city was well below her normal population capacity when the rebel forces arrived.

Many of the rebels had a feeling that they could be staying in Etria for quite some time. Most of them were not even sure if there was a plan in place for capturing Ho-oh’s home mountain and ending the war. They knew that they would want to end the conflict before winter fell. However, that still left them quite a bit of time, so that was not an immediate issue. Also, Phoenika had pretty moderate winters most years. Therefore, even chilling seasonal temperatures would not necessarily be a barrier to the war’s continuation.

Regardless of what was in store for them, the rebels, despite their basic and barebones command structure, had seized most of Phoenika and cornered their loyalist enemies at their lord’s stronghold. With any luck, the war and the reign of Ho-oh would be over soon enough. The biggest question on the amassed rebels’ minds and probably the minds of their enemies, was how Raikou planned to take his final objective.

Even Suicune herself was wondering what sort of idea Raikou had in mind to win the war that he had started. She had resigned herself to having to wait until the rebels had gotten settled into Etria and burned down Ho-oh’s vanity tower to learn what the thunder beast’s plan was. Still, that would only be a couple of days. Suicune ultimately just hoped that she would be able to provide Raikou with good counsel once he told her what his plan actually was. After Suicune was informed of Raikou’s plan for the rebellion’s final operation, she would probably need to divulge her own secret to Aurelia. The Azumarill would finally become privy to the true nature of Suicune’s wish soon enough.


	18. Issuing a Challenge

It was a lovely evening two days after the rebels had marched into Etria unopposed and based themselves in the city. Reports of falling loyalist morale were still coming in and Etria was now firmly under rebel control. Raikou had asked as many rebels and locals as they could accommodate to gather around the plaza at the center of which sat the second tower that had been built as a monument to the proclaimed glory of the Legendary Phoenix Ho-oh.

The towering structure, sometimes called Phoenix Tower by the locals, fit in well with the rest of Etria’s buildings in terms of its basic design. However, it was gaudy, flashy and covered in gold and silver. Raikou had ordered most of the precious metals stripped from the tower before he had convened the massive assembly around it. Those metals were to be melted down in the future and then re-forged into usable currency. That money was to help pay the hundreds of rebels who had aided Raikou’s movement, risking their lives in the process. Any artwork that did not explicitly depict Ho-oh was also removed from the tower so that it would be spared from the planned blaze.

Suicune was standing with Aurelia in the large crowd surrounding Phoenix Tower at a safe distance. Raikou had given a long speech about the necessity of freedom to the flourishing of sentient life and the ways in which Ho-oh had tyrannized his subjects. The thunder beast had even insinuated that his former master had profaned Arceus in some way by acting so unbecoming of one of the creator deity’s direct children for so long. Raikou concluded that Ho-oh was profoundly unfit to rule Phoenika, or any place for that matter. He had then given the order for Phoenix Tower to be destroyed, as it was a ‘monument to Ho-oh’s colossal ego.’ The building was now burning brightly. It was a planned-out blaze set by fire-breathing rebel soldiers. A number of aquatic rebel Pokémon were standing by to put the fire out when the order was given. Aurelia had said that she would help put out the fire when the time came. Suicune was to help them if necessary.

As the remains of Phoenix Tower crumbled and not much was left of the once impressive structure, Raikou said to the rebel firefighters, “You may put the fire out.” He then added, to the whole crowd, “I believe that we have made our point crystal clear tonight. My sincerest thanks to all who attended this historic event.”

As Aurelia walked up to help the other water-spewing rebels quench the blaze, Suicune hoped to herself that Ho-oh and his remaining supporters had seen the blaze and its smoke trail in the sky from their raised position to the south. With any luck, they would figure out what had happened and Ho-oh would become even more incensed than he probably already was. With any luck, he would act even less rationally than usual and that would advantage the rebels in some way.

While the fire was put out and the crowd began to disperse, Suicune noticed Raikou coming towards her. She walked towards the rebel leader and the two of them came face to face again.

Suicune told Raikou, “That was quite a speech. You are truly unafraid to speak your mind, you know that?”

Raikou responded, “Thank you. Your praise does mean a lot to me. You have been an invaluable asset to this revolution. With that said, I still wish that you would develop some more self-respect and come to realize the good inside of yourself. Now, I believe that I promised you that once the great monument to Ho-oh’s ego in this city was burnt to the ground, I would lay out the details of my plan for our final operation to you.”

Suicune nodded and replied, “Where would you like to go to discuss your plan?”

Raikou responded, “As you should remember, the Etria River that supplies this region with fresh water flows through the western part of the city. There is a tall bridge overlooking the river nearby a park where I think that we can get some privacy. I can lead the way there.”

Suicune nodded again and told Raikou, “Lead the way. As long as we do not get too close to anyone out for an evening stroll, or any couples on dates, we should be fine.”

Raikou nodded, chuckling a bit and then began to lead the way towards the bridge in the western portion of Etria. Apparently, Laura was under orders to take Aurelia back to the hotel where she and Suicune were staying after the crowd had fully dispersed from the plaza that had until recently been centered around Phoenix Tower.

Suicune followed Raikou for what felt like at least half an hour until they reached the bridge he had spoken of nearby a park. As the two Legendary Beasts looked out at the river below them, Suicune admitted, “It will not be long now until I tell Aurelia the truth about my wish. I will fulfill my promise to you and finally come clean with her before the next battle commences.”

Raikou nodded slowly and responded, “That is good to hear. Suicune… you should know that I really do see you as the closest thing that I have to a sister in this world. You are like my family and… I love you. That is why I do not want you to become mortal. I do not want to lose you for good. We are hopefully on the cusp of doing something really good for this world by ending the rule of the one who tried to enslave us. I think that even though you should be honest with the residents of Creekside, you should accept your immortality and make peace with the downsides of it like I have.”

Suicune simply replied, “So, what is your plan to defeat Ho-oh and capture his stronghold?”

Raikou sighed heavily and responded, “I have an unorthodox plan. If it fails, we will have to try a more costly and conventional approach to taking the mountain and ending Ho-oh. …I intend to have a message delivered to the loyalists. I plan to formally challenge Ho-oh and Entei to a two-on-two duel for the fate of Phoenika. It will be you and I versus Entei and Ho-oh. The location will have to be agreed upon by both sides if the challenge is accepted. I will inform our supporters of this plan once the message is sent and try to make as many loyalists aware of my challenge as possible also. My hope is that Ho-oh will accept my offer of a two-on-two duel because he will feel the need to convince his remaining supporters that he is not a coward and that he is still worth following. My hope is to minimize casualties on both sides through this plan. I do not want anyone else who has followed us so far to die. Even though the mortal loyalists are fools for standing with Ho-oh, many of them might have family and friends who are not so mindlessly devoted to that tyrant.”

Suicune asked, “So, what are the conditions if we win and if they win?”

Raikou responded, “If we win, then we gain control of Phoenika and will work to establish a new egalitarian government here. If they win… then everyone who has supported the rebellion and who does not wish to keep living under the old regime will have to leave the island and Ho-oh will reclaim his seat as the undisputed ruler of this place.”

Suicune replied, “This is very risky. Assuming that the challenge is accepted, we will be facing off against both Entei and his ancient master at once. Still, we will have advantages going in based on our known attacks. I will stand by you and join you in this duel if you truly believe that it is the best course of action to initiate it. Besides, I cannot abandon someone who loves me, now can I.”

Raikou smiled over at Suicune and told her, “Thank you. Your support in this final battle means everything to me. I will have the challenge letter composed and sent tomorrow morning. We will see what, if any, response we get from our enemy after that.”

Suicune nodded and then kept gazing out at the river below her and the evening sky above her. As she did so, Raikou decided to leave her alone and headed off to find Laura. Suicune did not want to let Raikou down through giving up her immortality. However, that was what she had come here to do. Regardless, once the loyalists responded to the challenge letter, she would tell Aurelia what she planned to wish for at Jirachi’s cave. No matter how Aurelia reacted, she had been a truly loyal friend to Suicune and she deserved to finally hear the truth.

\---

The Mountain Stronghold of Ho-oh two days after the burning of Phoenix Tower in Etria:

Once again, Entei ascended up the stone stairs that led to his master’s seat of power. He had recently received a message from a small unit of rebels that had approached the Mountain Stronghold carrying a flag of truce. Now, he felt duty bound to relay the message to his master. He was unsure of how his Lord would receive the offer that the rebellious Raikou had presented them with.

Upon arriving at Ho-oh’s “throne room” Entei saw that the Legendary Phoenix was standing on his bejeweled pedestal. He seemed to be thinking about something, possibly the unenviable situation that he now found himself in. He had lost control of almost the entire island of Phoenika in the span of only a few months. The last month had been the hardest for Ho-oh seeing as though it had been when the rebels had gained serious momentum and had crossed Phoenika from Larika to Etria. Now, they threatened Ho-oh’s home and clearly seemed to be out for his head. They had even burned down Ho-oh’s Phoenix Tower monument in Etria a mere two days ago.

Entei bowed to his master and told the rainbow avian, as Ho-oh looked down at him, no longer deep in thought, “My Lord, we have received a message from the rebels leadership. It comes from directly from Raikou.”

Ho-oh responded, “Well, what does it say? I strongly doubt that the traitors are suddenly admitting the legitimacy of my divine right to rule this island.”

Entei explained, “I wish that were the case, Lord Ho-oh. However, in reality, the message is a challenge from Raikou and Suicune. They are challenging the two of us to a duel for the fate of this island. They want to arrange a date, time and place for us to meet and have a two-on-two battle. If they win, then your reign over this island will be considered ended forevermore and a new government will be established. However, if we win, then all of the rebels and those who stand with them will either recognize your sovereignty, or leave Phoenika.”

Ho-oh looked to be pondering Raikou’s challenge for a few minutes. He then smiled wickedly and responded, “I will actually accept their challenge and meet them in one week. There is an old rocky foothill between here and Etria. It was used as a training ground until recently. We can use that as the duel’s location. Each side can bring up to thirty of their number to act as witnesses to the duel as well. Entei, I want you to have a courier go to Etria and inform the traitors’ leadership that I accept their challenge on one condition. The duel must be a duel to the death. If both combatants on one side die, then the survivor, or survivors, of the other side will win as per the stated terms of the challenge.”

Entei looked and felt seriously confused, he asked Ho-oh, “Why are you accepting the rebels’ challenge instead of letting them come to us? Also, why must it be a duel to the death?”

Ho-oh looked upwards and to the north and said, “I am well aware that even my subjects who stand with us here are starting to view me as a coward. I need to disabuse them of that notion. Defeating the two lead traitors in front of around sixty witnesses will send the message that I need sent now. As for why I want the upcoming duel to be fought to the death, I intend for us to kill both Raikou and Suicune. I made the mistake of giving those disloyal brats their current forms. I need to correct my mistake by taking both of their lives for good. Last time I fought Raikou and Suicune, I was weakened by those two and agreed to let them leave in peace. However, I should have found some way to do them both in soon after that failure. I do not want to have to live with myself if I lose to my two biggest failures again. Also, this time I will have you with me.”

As Entei nodded slowly and was about to leave, Ho-oh shouted up into the sky, “Do you hear that? I will not hide here anymore! I will reclaim my rightful territory and rule it again as I once did not long ago! You can tell my sister that yourself!”

Entei heard the crackle of lighting and looked up. He saw the hovering Legendary Bird Zapdos, who was observing them from the sky above and to the north of them.

Zapdos, the Herald of the Lady Lugia, simply nodded down towards where Ho-oh stood. He then flew north at blinding speed, leaving a trail of lightning behind him. He was almost certainly going to report in to his Lady about what he had overheard.

Entei then told his Lord, “I will go and choose a courier who will carry our acceptance letter to the rebels after dictating it myself. With any luck, we will soon be rid of these traitors and your continued rule over this island will be secure again.”

Ho-oh nodded and told Entei, “Assuming that the rebel leaders agree to my conditions, we will face Suicune and Raikou in battle soon enough. I would still like to know why Suicune returned to this island months after Raikou did. Once I learn the truth of that matter, I will enjoy killing both of them more than I have enjoyed anything in decades!”

Entei simply nodded, bowed and then turned to leave. He hated to admit it, but he did not want to kill Raikou and Suicune like his Lord clearly did. He wondered why they could not have accepted their new lot in life as he had centuries ago and served their rightful master. Ultimately, that did not matter now. Regrettably, they would have to die so that the one who had given Entei his second life would live on and continue to reign over Phoenika. Entei did all that he could to quench any and all possibly disloyal thoughts from his mind. As he did so, he headed off to find a trusted courier who could quickly reach Etria after he had gotten the acceptance letter ready.


	19. Duel of the Legends

\---

The highest balcony of the Bronze Tower Hotel in Central Etria. One day before the scheduled date of the duel on the rocky foothill:

Suicune was standing next to Aurelia on the balcony of her hotel room. They were looking south at the mighty mountain that Ho-oh’s stronghold was built on and around. Jirachi’s cave was there as well, close to the peak of the cloud-shrouded mount. The next day, Suicune and Raikou were to go with thirty of their best soldiers to meet Ho-oh and Entei. They would duel on a rocky foothill with a roughly flat summit that was only a couple of hours away from the southern outskirts of Etria. Aurelia and Laura were going to be going with them as part of their group of witnesses. Their two Legendary enemies and their thirty witnesses were going to meet the rebels there at roughly noon. 

Despite Ho-oh’s odd insistence in his response and acceptance letter that the duel be to the death, Raikou and Suicune had agreed to the time and place for the duel that he had suggested. They knew that this would be their one and only chance to end Ho-oh’s reign without any further mortal casualties. They would slay their former master and his most powerful servant, or die trying. 

As Suicune and Aurelia were standing together, Suicune decided that it was now or never. After dinner, she had invited Aurelia up to her room to watch the sunset. However, Suicune’s real reason for the invitation had been to speak with the Azumarill in private. She intended to finally disclose the truth about her wish to Aurelia before the final duel was to take place tomorrow.

Aurelia looked up at Suicune and asked her, “I have a feeling that you have something to ask me, or tell me. I know that tomorrow must be weighing heavily on your mind. What is it that you wanted to discuss before the fight of your life?”

Suicune look down at Aurelia and told her, “Aurelia…. You have been an amazing friend to me ever since you decided to be my traveling companion back home in Creekside. Now, I have decided that I need to fulfill a promise I made to Raikou and be honest with you. I have to tell you what my wish is…”

As Suicune trailed off, Aurelia replied, “I have been curious about that ever since you brought it up back at your shrine. I guess you are finally ready to be open with me about it. So… what is your wish, Suicune?”

Suicune turned to face Aurelia and told her, “I had a feeling that you had to be at least somewhat curious. You have every right to be, of course. I will waste no more time delaying my answer. … My wish is to become mortal again…”

Aurelia just stood there in silence. Suicune had absolutely no idea how the Azumarill would react to learning that the one she had worshipped as a living goddess for so long now wanted to relinquish her immortality. All that she could do was wait for Aurelia to reply to her confession. She still hoped desperately that the Azumarill would not turn on her now that everything was finally out in the air between the two of them.

Aurelia began to snap back into reality. She then sighed a deep, long, sigh that seemed to last for almost a whole minute. After that, she looked Suicune in her eyes and said, “After all that you told me soon after we started this adventure, I should have guessed that a while ago. Suicune, I completely understand now why you feel like you made me and the others who held my office before me waste our lives leading your worship. Maybe I should hate you right now…. Still, I cannot hate you, my friend. If I had learned the truth about who you really were somehow, but you had no intention of trying to make amends and come clean, then maybe I would have come to hate you. Maybe I would have even wanted to see you dead? However, I have come to understand that you are a flawed, but fundamentally good, creature like many of us mortals are. I see now that you should not be worshipped, Suicune. Both because you are no deity and because it is against your wishes. I will resign my position when we return to Creekside, after you explain yourself to the citizenry and apologize. Whether or not you end up making your wish and becoming mortal again, I want you to remember that you can become a better you as long as you recognize your flaws and put in the effort to work on them. It sounds like Ho-oh has none of your capacity for humility and guilt, or Raikou’s compassion and inspiring charisma. I will be there rooting for you and Raikou when you take on your former master and his loyal lackey. I will also respect your wishes and make no effort to stop you from relinquishing your immortality using Jirachi’s power.”

Tears were streaming down Suicune’s cheeks now as she told Aurelia, “Thank you… Your understanding means the world to me. I will do all that I can to help Raikou defeat Ho-oh and Entei. Once Phoenika is free of its current ruler and I make my wish, we will return to Creekside Town and I will confess my sins to the citizenry. If they judge me unworthy to live amongst them, then I will go somewhere else. If they forgive me, then I will make that settlement my home for as long as I live!”

Aurelia nodded and told Suicune, “I will do what I can to put in a good word for you and tell everyone that you are repentant, if that becomes necessary. If even I have accepted that you are not divine, but are still worthy of respect and acceptance, than hopefully most of the others will come to understand that as well.”

Suicune nodded as she did her best to stop crying. She had no intention of letting either Aurelia or Raikou down. She would fight her hardest in the next day’s duel. She knew that she had to return to Creekside alive to confess her unworthiness to be worshipped and make her sincere apology to those who had viewed her as their divine patron.

Aurelia then finished, “We should both go to bed now and get whatever rest we can. You will need it, especially seeing as though you will be facing a mighty challenge tomorrow.”

Suicune nodded confidently as her tears were drying. As the two females left the balcony, she told Aurelia, “I will need to remember that I am fighting not only for myself and my own desires tomorrow. Raikou and I are fighting to ensure a free and safe future for the inhabitants of Phoenika. We have both made our choice to fight Ho-oh now, even if we made it for different reasons going in.”

Aurelia simply nodded in understanding and then headed off to return to her room. Suicune went to bed not long after Aurelia had left.

As Suicune was lying in bed that night, she prayed to Arceus for the first time in longer than she could remember. She asked the original creator of the world and of Pokémon in general for victory in the coming duel, especially considering all that was at stake. However, she also asked them for guidance regarding her wish. Raikou’s words from earlier had affected her just enough to make her wonder if she should just accept her immortality and make peace with it. As Suicune tried to mentally re-affirm her commitment to becoming mortal again, she fell asleep.

The next morning, Raikou and Suicune led Laura, Aurelia and twenty-eight other experienced rebels south from Etria towards the short rocky hill that jutted out from the vast grasslands of Southern Phoenika. Nico, Janice and Katia, the rebels Suicune had first met at Larika Harbor were all among the procession. The foothill’s large, flat, grey stone summit was the chosen arena for the duel that would decide the fate of Phoenika.

When Raikou and Suicune’s procession arrived at the hill and began to ascend it, Suicune noticed that the lowest tier of Ho-oh’s stronghold was not far away from them now. They were probably not that far out of the range of the ancient site’s artillery.

At the top of the hill, Raikou and Suicune saw Entei, who had thirty loyalists behind him. It looked as though they had just arrived at the hilltop as well. The rebel witnesses were now taking up their positions behind Raikou and Suicune. None of the sixty mortal Pokémon were to interfere in the duel. If even one of them did, the two-on-two fight would become a real battle. That had been what Raikou had been trying to avoid by issuing his challenge in the first place.

Instead of saying anything to his rebellious kin, Entei simply looked up and bowed. His followers did the same thing.

Lowering himself majestically from the sky was Ho-oh. The Legendary Phoenix seemed to have made a showing in the flesh after all. Ho-oh closed in on the hilltop and then landed gracefully. He then glared hatefully at Raikou and Suicune, who returned his looks of disdain. Entei’s face only showed a look of steely determination.

Ho-oh looked around him and seemed to focus on one point in the sky behind Raikou and Suicune for a few seconds. He then announced, “I have agreed to your challenge, traitors! I am here with my most loyal servant to engage you two in combat and prove myself as the rightful ruler of Phoenika! Before we begin the proceedings, the two of you are slain and hopefully your souls suffer just punishment for your rebellion against me, I have one question for Suicune.”

As Raikou rolled his eyes at Ho-oh’s proclamations, Suicune looked up at her former master and asked, “What is your question? Out with it?”

Ho-oh glared down at Suicune and asked her, “Why did it take you months longer than it took Raikou to come here and begin to rebel against my rule over this island? Why did you not arrive alongside him in the first place?”

Suicune loudly replied, “I only became aware that Raikou had come back here and started his rebellion when I reached Falira. I was on my way here for another reason. I intend to make a wish at Jirachi’s cave. My wish is to become mortal again! We agreed that Raikou would allow me to make my wish if I aided him in overthrowing you. However, I have come to see since then that your rule should have ended before even my mortal birth, Ho-oh! You are a petty tyrant and you will finally get what is coming to you today!”

Fire began to flare up around Ho-oh’s beak as he screamed at Suicune, “You want to become mortal and give back what I gave you! You would willingly take something unique like yourself out of this world! You are truly a pinnacle of ingratitude! You were the first to rebel Suicune and I will repay you in full today! I WILL correct my earlier error and kill both you and Raikou! Taste my Sacred Fire, you pathetic traitor!”

Ho-oh opened his beak fully and rapidly lifted off into the air. Before anyone else could react, he fired off a mighty blast of white, gold and orange fire from his beak. The attack flew down through the air, struck Suicune in the side and caused her terrible pain as the assembled loyalists cheered. Thankfully for Suicune, her body was resistant to fire. Still, that had been a truly mighty flaming blast.

Raikou leapt forward as electricity arced around his body. He then shouted up, “Your tyrannical reign ends today, Ho-oh! The residents of Phoenika deserve better than to be ruled by one as petty and arrogant as you! It is you who will perish today!” As Laura and the other rebels cheered, Raikou fired off his electrical discharge. The bolts converged around Ho-oh and he screamed in pain. Entei also took significant injury from the bolts of lightning.

Suicune did her best to focus on the fight. She turned to Entei and saw him advancing towards Raikou now. She fired off a rapid barrage of bubbles into the imposing canine. The stream staggered Entei just enough that Raikou was able to leap backwards and dodge the blast of lava that shot out from his body at close range.

Ho-oh glared down at Raikou and then began to channel his Sacred Fire again. Raikou was unable to dodge the mighty blast of raging flames and took the hit head on. However, Raikou shouted, “If it works once, then try it again!” He unleashed a second discharge of electricity as his rebels cheered for him and the loyalists cheered for Ho-oh.

Ho-oh screamed in pain again as he was wracked by lightning. Suicune saw Entei now coming right for her at full speed. She stood her ground and pelted him with high-pressure bubbles.

Entei was looking quite weakened now. He had taken two barrages of bubbles and two powerful electrical shocks. However, he pushed himself forward and leapt at Suicune. He buried his fangs in her upper side when he landed. She screamed in pain as he bit down as hard as he could.

Suicune summoned up her winds to dart away from Entei, forcing him to release his jaw’s grip on her flank. In the process, she managed to narrowly dodge a roaring blast of Sacred Fire from the hovering Ho-oh. Suicune then looked up at Ho-oh and pelted him with her high-pressure bubbles. She knew that she was starting to feel slightly faint now. However, she was far from ready to forfeit her life. She knew that she and Raikou had to win this duel. Far too much was at stake for them to lose here.

Raikou fired off his third electrical discharge. He was pushing himself as hard as he could, even though he was having trouble continuously conjuring up so much electricity. Ho-oh was looking more than a bit charred now and Entei was shocked so badly that he seemed frozen in place.

Ho-oh clearly realized that Entei was in bad shape. However, he carefully aimed his Sacred Fire and nailed Raikou in side with it as the thunder beast failed to fully dodged the flaming blast. Both Raikou and Suicune now bore some severe injuries. However, Raikou had taken two Sacred Fire blasts without having the benefit of Suicune’s natural resistance to fire.

Raikou shouted, “I will not give in now! Tyranny will never prevail on my watch!” He fired off one more electrical discharge into both Entei and Ho-oh. Entei was charred to a practical crisp. He slumped to the ground and breathed his last breath. Ho-oh was looking weaker than ever before, but he remained in the sky.

Suicune bombarded Ho-oh with bubbles as she saw Entei dying. She could not afford to hold anything back now. Both Raikou and herself were heavily injured and Ho-oh was still quite a powerful enemy, even when in such poor shape.

Ho-oh screamed down at Raikou and Suicune, “You traitors have killed your loyal kin! That is so like you scum! You have robbed me of my most useful servant! Suicune, you started this all those centuries ago, you will die first for your treason!”

Ho-oh dived right for Suicune as she kept blasting him with bubbles. He then suddenly halted his dive and conjured a series of boulders that he flung right for her.

Suicune had no time to get out of the way, even with her impressive speed. As she was about to close her eyes and hope that she would not be crushed to death, Raikou leapt in front of her, having been on his way already. He took multiple blows to his chest and head and crumpled to the ground in front of Suicune, who could only look on in horror.

Suicune saw that Raikou was dying. She asked him, breathing heavily and with tears already forming in her eyes as Ho-oh cackled victoriously, “Why did you do that?”

Raikou simply replied, “Because I love you Suicune…” He then succumbed to his wounds as Laura screamed in horror and anguish. Suicune knew that he had meant a familial love of sorts, not romantic love. Still, she knew that his death could not be in vain. She had to avenge him and finish what she had inadvertently started all those years ago.

Suicune glared up at Ho-oh to see that the Legendary Phoenix was charging right down for her looking more confident in his victory than ever. He was not bothering to summon up any boulders for this reckless diving attack. This time, though, she dodged his dive narrowly.

Ho-oh crashed into the ground and looked to have injured himself in the process. Suicune pelted him with a barrage of bubbles as she tried to circle around him and get a good shot in at his head.

Ho-oh groaned in pain as the nearby rebels were still in shock over seeing Raikou slain and the nearby loyalists felt the same way about Entei. The Legendary Phoenix tried to take off again. However, Suicune leapt at his neck while shouting, “Not so fast! I am finishing this today! DIE!”

Suicune sunk her teeth into Ho-oh’s throat and he coughed horribly as she bit down as hard as she could using every last ounce of energy that she could muster.

Ho-oh’s body began to glow with white light. However, it soon faded. His attempt to heal himself fizzled out and he began to slump to the ground. Suicune continued to choke him with her mouth and did not let go. She would not let go for anything at this point.

As the loyalists in the area looked on in sheer horror. Ho-oh tried to say something, anything at all. However, his energy was too low now. It did not take very long for his eyes to roll up in his head. His entire body crashed to the ground and stopped moving entirely. The Legendary Phoenix had been slain for good.

Suicune finally released her death grip on the neck of her former master and stood up, wounded, but triumphant. As the rebels who had partially recovered from watching Raikou die cheered for Suicune, Aurelia was doing her best to hold and comfort the, now sobbing, Laura.

As Laura rushed to Raikou’s corpse and began to hold onto it while still sobbing uncontrollably, Suicune turned to the stunned and terrified loyalists. She loudly and angrily asked them, “Do any of you contest the outcome of this duel?”

None of the thirty loyalists seemed to contest Suicune’s victory. As she looked over at Raikou’s body, fully aware that he had died to save her life. She knew that it was now time for her to go to Jirachi’s cave and make her wish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might be wondering now why I did not add the “Major Character Death” archive warning to this story, or say that I chose not to use archive warnings. Regarding that, all that I can ask for is that you all trust me and continue reading this story. It is not over yet. With that all said, thanks for reading this far. Only two chapters left to post now.


	20. Her Wish

Suicune was standing, battered but victorious, next to the corpse of the once-mighty Ho-oh. As the still sobbing Laura had rushed to Raikou’s lifeless body, Suicune saw Aurelia following her. She then saw a few of the thirty assembled loyalists removing their sashes and caps. They knew that they had lost now. With Ho-oh slain, there was no reason for them to keep fighting. They would only be throwing their lives away at this point.

Seeing the subdued celebrations among her rebel subordinates, Suicune announced, “The war is over! Ho-oh is no more and will be judged beyond this material realm for his misdeeds. This island’s government will be reorganized in such a way as Raikou would want it to be in due time. I returned to Phoenika to make a wish before Jirachi. I intend to visit him in his cave now. I want a trusted courier to go to the mountain stronghold and inform those residing there of my victory over Ho-oh. I’ll be following the courier on the ground not far behind. I expect that the gates of the stronghold will be opened and that I will be allowed to ascend to Jirachi’s cave. There is no reason for there to be any more violence today. Do I make myself clear?”

The assembled Pokémon on both sides all nodded, or saluted, in response to Suicune’s declaration. A loyalist Altaria stepped forward and bowed to Suicune. She was quickly recognized as the courier who had delivered Ho-oh response and acceptance letter to Etria a few days ago. The Altaria told Suicune, “I will deliver your message to the stronghold. …To the victor go the spoils.”

The Altaria took off towards the south. Suicune told Aurelia, “Please do whatever you can to comfort Laura and keep things orderly here until I return. I know what I have to do.”

Aurelia simply nodded and told Suicune, “You were triumphant over your former master and have freed this place from his reign. I trust that whatever you do next will be for the best.”

Suicune smiled down at Aurelia. She then began to run south. She soon summoned up her winds to allow her to keep pace with the Altaria who was flying south towards the towering lower walls of the mountain stronghold.

Soon enough, Suicune was standing in front of the mammoth main gate of the stronghold. It was early afternoon now. This mighty fortress had been spared being attacked by the rebel army. However, the rebel army had also been spared from having to assault such a gigantic and ancient bastion. Suicune was relieved that the final battle of the civil war had been the small-scale affair that had just transpired. However, that two-on-two battle had still been incredibly costly. At least Ho-oh was finally dead and by Suicune’s own jaws at that.

The Altaria courier had flown inside of the mighty stronghold just minutes ago. As Suicune was hoping that the Altaria could convince the guards to let her inside, the main gate began to slowly creak open. Once it was open enough to allow her passage inside, Suicune entered the lowest level of the multi-tiered fortress-palace.

Suicune saw the Altaria and dozens of other Pokémon awaiting her. They all either bowed, or simply nodded to her. None of them were contesting her victory. It was possible that some of these Pokémon had been able to watch the duel from a distance from atop the walls of the stronghold. Either way, they all knew now that Suicune was both the winner and the only survivor of the fight.

The occupants of the stronghold who had allowed Suicune to enter their fortress parted. They allowed her to advance up the path that would take her all the way to Jirachi’s cave past where Ho-oh had once laired without a word. Suicune simply nodded to them and then darted up the path. She intended to reach Jirachi’s cave as quickly as she could and she wanted nothing to slow her down on the way.

Considering her great speed, Suicune quickly reached the place where the late Ho-oh’s “throne” stood. Suicune could not help but smile as she knew that the decadent pedestal would never again be sat upon by the hated tyrant who had ordered its construction.

Suicune then looked ahead and saw the path that led to Jirachi’s cave.   
She whipped up her winds and took off at full speed up the rocky path. She still had somewhere to be, someone to meet and little time to waste.

Suicune soon reached the entrance to a cave at the end of the path that was located near the summit of the mountain. It was still afternoon and she hoped that Laura had stopped sobbing by this point. As Suicune stepped inside of the, glowing crystal-lit, cave, she felt a great power in the very air around her. Undaunted, she pressed on deeper into the long and narrow cave. She did not know what sort of trial would await her, if any. However, she knew that she could face whatever challenge awaited her. She could not fail now. She had come too far, fought too hard and seen too much.

Suicune continued to walk deeper into the cave, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone, or anything, that could appear in her way, or to the side of her. As she reached a place where she thought she could hear extremely faint echoed snoring and then yawning, the air in front of her began to shimmer. It began to take on a distinct shape. The shape of a four-legged creature. 

Suicune halted her steady advance and glared at the apparition that was beginning to form in front of her. She then recoiled slightly in surprise as the apparition took on the form of a translucent version of herself. As she regained her composure, Suicune asked the apparition of herself, “Who and what are you?”

The translucent Suicune replied, “Truth be told, I am you. Before you can meet with Jirachi, you must simply face yourself.”

Seeing that the apparition was not tensing for a fight, Suicune had a strong feeling that she did not mean face herself in combat. She told the apparition, “I know what I must ask of Jirachi. I have a pure desire that I want him to make a reality. Please, allow me to pass so that I can make my wish.”

The apparition told Suicune, “I know that you have a pure desire, as I know all about myself. I really am you, Suicune. To elaborate, I am the version of yourself that you have kept repressed for centuries. Still, I have been starting to bubble up to the surface more and more recently. I am your true self, the Suicune who wants to be accepted and loved for who she is while atoning for her past mistakes. I am also the Suicune who knows what she has to offer the world and has the self-respect to know that she is a good creature at heart who wants to do the right thing whenever possible. Now, do you understand?”

Suicune nodded, tearing up slightly. She then smiled and told the apparition, “I understand everything that you just said. You are me, after all.”

The apparition just smiled and told Suicune, “Go then, make your wish. Jirachi awaits you…” She then disappeared into thin air as quickly as she had appeared.

Suicune walked deeper into the cave until she found a creature with a vaguely star-shaped head floating towards her. She knew that this tired-looking being had to be Jirachi himself.

Jirachi smiled at Suicune and yawned. He then told her, “I am Jirachi, the granter of wishes. Only those with a strong, pure and non-harmful desire may reach me after facing themselves. So, first off, what is your name, miss?”

Suicune replied, “My name is Suicune and I do indeed have a wish that I want you to grant me, oh great and ancient Jirachi.”

Jirachi nodded and responded, “Very well, Miss Suicune. What is the wish you want me to grant for you?”

Suicune took a deep breath, looked Jirachi in the eyes and told him exactly what her wish was. Jirachi nodded sleepily in response and then his entire body glowed with a brilliant energy. He told her, as his power almost looked to consume him, “Your will is made manifest through my power. Your wish is granted.”

As Jirachi’s body glow faded, he looked like he was falling asleep. Of course, the amount of energy that he had just expended had to be monumental. As Jirachi lazily floated back into his cave’s depths, after smiling at Suicune briefly, she turned around and bolted out of the cave. She was headed back to the foothill where Aurelia should be waiting for her.

\---

The foothill site of the recent duel:

Aurelia knew that it was afternoon now. However, she was unsure of how long it had been since Suicune had departed to make her wish. Many of the rebels and loyalists had departed the site by now. Thankfully, no more fighting had broken out after Suicune’s departure. Laura was still crying and holding on to one of the slain Raikou’s legs. As for Aurelia herself, she was determined to stay at the spot where the fateful duel had gone down and await Suicune’s return. Aurelia thought that Suicune could return at any time now, considering her great speed.

As Laura was still not at all recovered from having watched her Lord die, a thunderclap could be heard coming from just above the hilltop. Aurelia looked up and saw a yellow and black avian who she realized had to be the Legendary Bird Zapdos. He was descending on the hilltop and calling out, “Make way! Make way! The Lady Lugia is here!”

As all of the assembled mortals, expect for the devastated Laura, bowed in some way, Zapdos was followed out of the sky first by Moltres and then by a huge, mighty and majestic white and blue avian. Aurelia knew that this had to be the late Ho-oh’s “sister,” the Guardian of the Seas. This was the Lady Lugia in the flesh.

Zapdos and Moltres landed nearby Aurelia as Lugia landed nearby Ho-oh’s corpse. As Lugia was studying the remains of the three slain Legendary Pokémon, Moltres looked down at Aurelia and asked her, “Aurelia, where is Suicune?”

Aurelia replied to the Lady of Falira, “She has gone to Jirachi’s cave to make her wish, Lady Moltres. After Raikou killed Entei, she killed Ho-oh and claimed victory in the arranged duel for the fate of Phoenika.”

Moltres nodded and sighed deeply. She then replied, “Raikou will be sorely missed as far as I am concerned. I am just glad to know that Suicune was victorious and defeated the tyrant who once sought to enslave her, and later myself, for good.”

As Aurelia solemnly nodded, she turned to the towering figure of Lugia. The Sea Guardian suddenly stomped a foot on the ground angrily and shouted, “Arceus damn it, Ho-oh! …Even if he brought this on himself, I made no effort to try and get him to be a better ruler. I just stayed in my own domain like a coward and allowed him to do whatever he wanted with this island! This carnage, I cannot help but see myself as being at fault for it in part. I only checked Ho-oh when he tried to expand his holdings. …I have not done nearly enough. Who and what have I been living and ruling for all these years?”

Moltres turned to Lugia and told her, “Please do not blame yourself for this. You did save Falira and myself from Ho-oh before…”

Lugia, tears in her eyes now, looked over at Moltres and told her, “That was what I needed to do… but it was enough. I will not forget this day, I promise you all that! I will not just ignore the wider world any longer! It is high time for me to do what my brother could not bring himself to do. It is time for me to act according to my station and not only become a better ruler and patron, but act for the good of all whenever possible! I was on my way here to try and stop this duel. I was too late this time. However, there is always the future. I WILL redeem myself and refuse to conveniently ignore such great evils again!”

As Moltres was smiling at her “mother” as best as she could and Zapdos was still standing dutifully at Lugia’s side, something began to happen. Aurelia was the first to see it. She quickly realized that Raikou’s body was now glowing and the wounds all across it were healing. She gasped and then smiled warmly when she saw the same thing happening to Entei’s remains, but not Ho-oh’s. 

Lugia saw Raikou and Entei’s eyes beginning to flutter open and asked, “How, how is that possible?”

Laura began to bounce up and down in the air with joy as she saw her Lord returning to life. Absolute ecstasy in her voice, she shouted, “It’s a miracle!”

Moltres and Aurelia both looked to each other and then nodded simultaneously. Aurelia explained, “I do not think that this was a miracle. I believe that it was a wish that came true.”

Moltres nodded and said, “This was Suicune’s doing. It had to have been.”

Raikou was standing up fully. As he breathed heavily and Entei was looking around the area in shock, the thunder beast said aloud, “If I live again and Suicune’s wish was responsible. Does that mean that she did not wish to become mortal again?”

Lugia thought for a moment and then replied, “Moltres told me of Suicune’s odd desire. Still, Jirachi does not allow for multi-part wishes. If her wish was for the revival of Raikou and Entei, then that was the only wish she could ever make before Jirachi. She has sacrificed her desire to become mortal so that her brethren could live again.”

Entei was completely speechless as the assembled Pokémon awaited Suicune’s return. It did not seem to take long for the Incarnation of the North Winds to be seen bolting at full speed across the grasslands towards the hilltop.

\---

When Suicune returned and finally reached the hilltop, she was exhausted. However, she noticed and instinctively bowed to Lugia soon after arriving. She also saw that her wish had indeed been granted. Raikou and Entei lived again.

As Suicune walked out onto the rocky hilltop, she saw the assembled Pokémon all smiling at her to some extent. Raikou leapt at Suicune and lovingly tackled her. He shouted, “You brought us back, you magnificent creature! You killed Ho-oh and then you sacrificed your chance at mortality to see us live again! I don’t know how I can ever repay you!”

Suicune just nodded, still very tired, as soon as Raikou let go of her. Entei then stepped closer to his two fellow Legendary Beasts. With all eyes on him, he asked, “Why did you bring me back to life as well?”

Suicune sighed a bit and replied, “I thought that you deserved one more chance, Entei. Besides, the three of us are kind of a famous trio. I did not want to be the last Legendary Beast and I did not want to reduce us to a duo by only reviving Raikou, either.”

Entei nodded solemnly and then told Suicune, “In that case, I cannot stand against you any longer. Lord Ho-oh may be gone. However, you have given me a chance that I would not have expected you to think I deserved. You and Raikou may decide Phoenika’s fate now. I trust you two to do what you think is best for everyone here.”

Raikou smiled at Entei and told everyone present, as Laura kept bouncing up and down in the air in joy, “I do not want to become the ruler of Phoenika myself. I intend to stay here only for as long as it takes to establish a new government on this island. After that, Laura and I, along with our other supporters who came here from the Grand Island, will return home.”

Lugia told the Legendary Beasts, “I will leave this place to you then. I will work to become a better Pokémon myself. I will do whatever I can to prevent such senseless violence from occurring and aid those who truly need support in the future.” The Sea Guardian then took off into the sky, along with Moltres and Zapdos.

Suicune told Raikou, “I will stay in Etria with Aurelia for a week longer at most to help you however I can. After that, we need to head back home to Creekside. I still have one more promise I need to keep to both Aurelia and myself.”

As Aurelia nodded happily up at Suicune, Raikou told her, “Of course. I will relieve you of your rank as General, now that the war is over thanks to you. …Thank you for everything, Suicune. I am sure that you will make things right in Creekside as you did here.”

Suicune replied, “I may still be immortal, but I have come to realize that if you can make peace with that reality, then so can I. Like Lady Lugia said that she would, I will keep working to become a better Pokémon. For now, why don’t we go back to Etria and get some rest?”

Raikou simply nodded and then, as Entei led most of the former loyalists back towards the mountain stronghold, the other two Legendary Beasts led the former rebels back to Etria. The war, as short as it had been, was finally over and Ho-oh had paid for his tyrannical behavior with his life. Now, it was the time to bring Phoenika back together.

After that, it would be time for Suicune to return home with Aurelia. She was still immortal. However, she was now determined to make peace with that fact. Even after all that had happened, she still planned to start living among mortals again. However, that new phase of her life would only begin in earnest once she returned to the Grand Island and to Creekside Town.


	21. Epilogue: The First Homecoming

In the week that followed the final duel on the rocky hilltop, Raikou, Suicune, Entei and others began to work out the details of how Phoenika would be governed going forward. Individual settlements were going to be allowed greater autonomy in the future. Regions of the island were also up for consideration in that regard. Most of Raikou’s rebels has returned, or were returning, to their home towns and cities across Phoenika. The surviving loyalists had been doing the same since their lord’s defeat.

Entei intended to stay on Phoenika for the foreseeable future. He knew that as a Legendary Pokémon, he would have the potential to hold some sort of high office. However, he was not interested in any sort of noble title for himself. That held true, even though outsiders to Phoenika had misidentified him as a Lord for some time now.

While Suicune only intended to stay in Etria for a week at most, Raikou, Laura and the other few former rebels who had come from the Grand Island intended to stay for as long as they needed to. They did not want to leave before coming to a widely-recognized binding agreement for how Phoenika was to be politically reorganized. Raikou had told Suicune that he intended to visit with her back on the Grand Island soon after his eventual return. He was still grateful to her for bringing him and Entei back from the dead with her wish. He was also proud of Suicune for beginning the process of accepting her immortality.

One week after the hilltop duel, as real progress was being made on the agreement that would ideally secure a better future for Phoenika, Suicune departed Etria for Larika. Aurelia would be riding her once again as they began their trip back home to Creekside Town. Suicune said goodbye to Raikou, Entei, Laura and a number of the mortal Phoenikan rebels that she had worked with and commanded before leaving the old city. Aurelia said goodbye to Laura and the two of them expressed interest in meeting again in the near future back on the Grand Island.

After reaching Larika, Suicune and Aurelia rested there for one night in the Seaview Inn, where they had stayed over a month ago. The next morning, they crossed a stretch of ocean and reached Falira, where they rested the night at Moltres’s Igneous Citadel. The Legendary Bird of Fire was very pleased with Suicune regarding both her slaying of Ho-oh and her having used her one and only wish to revive her brethren, rather than make herself mortal again. Suicune appreciated Moltres’s praise and took it as best as she could. She also learned that the Lady Lugia was still planning to follow through with her recently-made oath to become a better Pokémon and do more good for the world. However, the exact ways in which Lugia would try to fulfill her oath were still unclear.

After staying with Moltres and her consort Sir Corran for one night, Suicune and Aurelia set off across the open ocean from Falira’s singular coastal port. They wanted to get back to Creekside Town as quickly as they could. Suicune had made it very clear to Aurelia that she intended to keep her promise as soon as they got back to the river port.

As they crossed the ocean, Aurelia expressed hope that Suicune would come to be accepted in and around Creekside after she confessed the truth about her past. Aurelia also hoped that she would also be able to find a new occupation that would still allow her to be of use to her community.

Once Suicune and Aurelia returned to the Grand Island, they rested the night in the coastal town of Rokana where they had spent some time on the way to Phoenika. Suicune and Aurelia tracked down the Chinchou girl, Kina, who they had spoken with about Raikou’s whereabouts over a month ago. They told her what the thunder beast had been up to and that he would be coming home in due time. Kina was happy to see Suicune and Aurelia again and to receive their news. They had left out the part about Raikou’s death and revival, not wanting to concern Kina too much.

After leaving Rokana, Suicune and Aurelia arrived in Creekside Town the following morning. It was early, but not too early. The pair of females walked into the shrine together, where Aurelia took off her traveling pack and found a safe place to put it down.

Suicune told Aurelia, “I would appreciate it if you would gather as many locals here as you can within the next two hours. Tell them that there is something important that I must tell them in person. That should get their attention.”

Aurelia nodded and asked, “You are going to tell everyone your full life story and why you are unworthy of worship in your own eyes, aren’t you?”

Suicune nodded back at Aurelia and replied, “Yes, that is my plan. You will act as my witness regarding our recent adventure. Once my story is told, I will ask the citizens of Creekside for their forgiveness regarding my lack of forthrightness and ask to no longer be worshipped as a deity.”

Aurelia saluted Suicune and chuckled, “I will be out of a job. However, helping you to both find yourself and defeat Ho-oh was the adventure of my lifetime. I have lost a divine patron. However, I have gained a true friend. I like to think that that is a good trade to make. I will also say that we should not destroy any works of art that depict you if we can help it. You are still a Legendary Pokémon and a physically impressive creature.”

Suicune almost blushed as Aurelia turned to go and alert the local officials to her return and Suicune’s request. Suicune sat down nearby the riverside spot where Aurelia had given her sermons many times. She looked over at the river that bore her name and smiled. She could not help but hope that the river’s name would not be changed once she openly admitted the truth about who she really was. 

Within the next two hours, dozens of Pokémon representing a myriad of species had gathered on and around the shrine’s benches. It did seem as though Aurelia had been able to easily convince much of the local populace to come and hear Suicune speak.

After Aurelia returned, she stood by Suicune’s side. Once it seemed like enough of an audience had congregated in the area, a Barbaracle, who Aurelia had said was the local Dock Manager and was named Alexander, asked Suicune, “Lady Suicune, might I ask what you have called us here for? Most of us have never even seen you in the flesh, yet now you are here standing in front of us. What is your announcement? Is there some new danger afoot that you are here to warn us of?”

Suicune stood up and took a deep breath. She then replied, “First of all, my name is Suicune. Just Suicune. Second of all, there is no great danger approaching that I am aware of. As for why I have asked Aurelia to gather you all here. There is a truth that you all deserve to finally hear. Something that I did not tell those who came before you. Something that I deeply regret not bringing out into the open long ago.”

As Suicune paused, murmurs filled the crowd. Plenty of Creekside locals seemed shocked to hear that Suicune was rejecting her title. Soon, Suicune heard a female voice from the crowd pointedly asking her, “And what might that be?”

Suicune slowly replied, “The truth is complicated… However, it needs to be revealed today. …Please let me tell you all a story… my story.”

Aurelia and the other locals said nothing else as Suicune began her life story. She told them everything from the destruction of the tower dedicated to Ho-oh in Etria and her rebirth in her current form to her recent adventure with Aurelia and her slaying of Ho-oh. She finally finished with her wish to have Jirachi bring Raikou and Entei back from the dead being granted and her and Aurelia’s return to Creekside Town soon after that.

After she concluded her story, Suicune looked over the silent citizens of Creekside Town and finished, “I was a fraud for all of these years. I should have told the truth centuries ago. Instead I became aloof and slowly went mad with guilt and loneliness. Aurelia has been gracious enough to forgive me, even though my recent honesty should leave her jobless now. I truly hope that this community can find another productive use for her. I knew that I had to survive my tenure as a General fighting Ho-oh’s loyalists because I had to come back to this settlement and finally speak the truth to everyone here. I cannot begin to say how deeply sorry I am that I misled you all and the previous inhabitants of this fine town and region. I am standing before you now with everything out in the open. I am no Lady, or deity. I may be a Legendary Pokémon now, but I was once a mortal like all of you. I want to do what I can to live amongst you and be a boon to this place in a more concrete way than I have been in the past. Whether or not I deserve it, I must humbly ask for your forgiveness.”

Suicune simply closed her eyes and stood there. She had never humbled herself so much out loud. However, she had meant every single word that she had said.

As Suicune breathed in and out deeply and waited to be forgiven of, or judged for, her sins. She heard a female voice she had not heard before, at least not recently, saying, “I forgive you, Suicune.”

When Suicune opened her eyes, she saw that a blue, black and tan bipedal Pokémon with spikes on the backs of her hands and mask-like markings on her face had stepped forward from the crowd. She had to be a Lucario. This was clearly the Lucario named Alyssa. The Lucario that Aurelia had spoken of so highly before.

A female Weavile stepped forward next to the Lucario and said in the voice that had questioned her earlier in the assembly, “I forgive you as well.”

More and more Creekside Citizens began to step forward and express things along the lines of forgiving Suicune for her past dishonesty. Aurelia was beaming seeing her fellow citizens of Creekside Town forgiving her friend.

Suicune was tearing up quickly as she felt the weight of her past finally being lifted from her shoulders. She had been given a true second chance. She could begin again and learn to live amongst others once more. She simply looked over the crowd and tearfully exclaimed, “Thank you…thank you all! I will not make any of you regret the kindness that you have shown me today!”

As Aurelia grinned and Suicune began to bawl tears of joy at being forgiven by so many of those who she had deceived, the Incarnation of the North Winds finally felt like she was where she belonged.

 _Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Eternity_ : THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, the first of the two spin-off stories in this series is now complete. I hope that you all enjoyed this story and will give its sequel a try when it begins posting. That sequel, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Power, should begin posting sometime on Friday, December 4th 2020. Wake of Power should also be the final story in this series, as I mentioned in an earlier author’s note. Special thanks to my real life friends who have been reading this story and other stories of mine. You know who you are. Also, special thanks to everyone who left kudos and/or comments on this story so far. I sincerely appreciate your readership, even if all that you have left is hits so far. With all of that said, thank you all one more time and I hope that you all stay safe and finish out this bizarre year as best as you can.


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